Gift cards stink, as anyone who has heard Clark during past holiday seasons can attest.
His rationale has long been why would anyone want to take real U.S. money and turn it into fake money only good at a certain retailer or restaurant? And what happens if that restaurant or retailer goes bust? Consumers have been burned too often when there's no one around to make good on unredeemed gift cards.
The only kind of gift cards the penny-pincher likes are those where you get more than you pay for. For example, you might pay $100 for a gift card at a restaurant and get a $120 food credit in return. But even then, you want to be sure to use that gift card as soon as possible.
Now the Federal Reserve has issued new rules on gift cards that aim to make them less stinky for consumers. The rules curtail fees that consumers can get hit with for card inactivity, and they also extend a gift card's shelf life to five years. After five years, any unused funds would go to the issuing retailer or restaurant.
Clark's one gripe about the new rules is their date of effect -- August 2010. Why not make the rules go live in the next 60 days or so to benefit consumers during the holiday season?!
Extended warranties are all the rage when you purchase electronics and many other popular items. But Clark is here to reiterate his refrain that they aren't necessary.
Consumer Reports says that electronics seldom fail. In fact, TVs only fail at a three percent rate in the first four years of ownership. Why would anyone buy a warranty when you have a 97 percent that your TV will work for numerous years?
Yet most people have a strange psychology about what we'll throw our money at. The Journal of Consumer Research found that people are more likely to buy a warranty on something they enjoy than on something they don't. So a business owner may not buy a warranty on business equipment, but he or she will do so on a big-screen TV!
The reality is that extended warranties have massive costs and aren't a good investment. For example, The New York Times found a popular Nikon camera where the warranty was 27 percent of the purchase price! For laptops, a warranty can be up a third of the price!
Yet there is a free way to extend a manufacturer's warranty. Many credit cards will double the warranty up to one additional year if you use their card to make the purchase.
MONEY-SAVING MOMENT: In a new retail development, Black Friday deals will be available from now throughout the remainder of the holiday season.
This change comes in the aftermath of Black Friday 2008 when a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by a mob of riotous shoppers in New York.
Wal-Mart in particular will be keeping a majority of its stores open 24 hours this year to avert a similar disaster. The mega-retailer plans to open on Thanksgiving morning at 6 a.m. and keep stores open through Friday evening.
But there's no need to wait until then to steal a deal. Retailers are rolling out the deals right now. For example, Clark picked up a laptop at Best Buy for $249 -- and he didn't have to stand in the cold or checkout in a long line. It was part of a one-day sale that Best Buy was having to kick off the Black Friday shopping season.
Americans are more versatile and adaptable than we're given credit for. Some of us who have been forced to get by on less have even taken to planting and gardening to grow our own food!
But what do you do if you have a bumper crop in your backyard? One option is to can your own fruits or vegetables. Dow Jones reports that sales of canning equipment are up 30 percent this year. CanningAcrossAmerica.com is one web resource for canning devotees.
Most people, however, won't make the effort to practice the dying art of canning. That's why Clark says being smarter about how we buy our groceries is important.
Buying the store brand instead of the name brand -- a practice known as brand substitution -- can really help fatten your wallet.
Changing where you shop can also be important. Aldi prides itself on offering shoppers the opportunity to save up to 40 percent on a typical grocery bill.
Beyond that, you can also use CouponMom.com to learn free coupon strategies that will help maximize your savings each time you shop.
When you go to shop, so much everyday stuff is getting cheaper and cheaper. Even clothes are a deal right now!
Clark was recently looking at golf shirts in a discount store while his wife was getting clothing for the children. He found 100 percent cotton golf shirts for $7. We're talking new, not used!
Wal-Mart -- the 1 million pound gorilla of the retail world -- is set to drive prices on some common items down even further with its e-commerce site, WalMart.com.
Wal-Mart's website is the second-busiest e-commerce portal behind Amazon, according to The Financial Times of London. WalMart.com has a new initiative to push cosmetics, medicine and baby products online. You can expect a flat shipping rate of 97 cents on all orders.
Meanwhile, Clark had previously talked about Alice.com, but this site has not been as price competitive as the consumer champ had hoped.
Consumer Reports has taken a close look at dollar stores in their Money Adviser publication and revealed what's a deal and what's not.
Products including cotton rounds, gift wrap, birthday candles, paper bags, composition notebooks, plastic cups, security envelopes, napkins, foam plates and tissue paper are among the best deals.
Money Adviser advises against buying jewelry (too much lead content); electrical products (possibly fake UL labels); medication (expired products); and vitamins (not from reputable sellers) at dollar stores.
Clark routinely buys medication like ibuprofen at dollar stores and has not found it to be past expiration date. Now, he could get a better deal on ibuprofen at a warehouse club. But unless you're in constant pain, who can use all those 12 million pills before they expire?!
Meanwhile, financially minded couple the Dolans recently identified some product categories they believe are not deals at warehouse clubs. These include produce and jewelry. Clark disagrees completely with the latter, but feels that if your produce goes bad before you can finish it, then it's no deal indeed.
RIP-OFF ALERT: Pre-paid stored value cards that have historically been a rip are beginning to clean up their act.
At Wal-Mart, you can take your paycheck and deposit it onto a stored-value card for a monthly fee of just $3. That's vastly cheaper than going to a check casher. And you can use it anywhere that the Visa card logo is shown -- not just at Wal-Mart.
American Express, meanwhile, has its own versions of stored-value cards that minimize the fees and make this another viable option for the unbanked.
Longtime listeners know that Clark has historically trashed gift cards. For many years, they were the fastest growing sales channel for retailers and restaurants.
But lately they've been seeing a decline in popularity. Experience shows that gift cards become worthless when restaurants and retail stores shut down. That's the risk of taking real U.S. money and turning it into an IOU.
Years ago, there were also junk fees on gift cards. That's no longer a problem after public outcry reversed this trend.
Today, retailers and restaurants remain desperate to sell gift cards because of "breakage," which refers to the amount that are never redeemed and therefore counted as pure profit.
There is now a new wave of gift cards with offers of bonuses. Costco Wholesale, for example, offers $100 gift cards at a price of $80. These can be a deal if you redeem them in a timely manner. But a straight-up dollar-for-dollar gift card is never a deal.
MONEY-SAVING MOMENT: We've all seen the ads running constantly on late-night TV that promise to turn your unloved gold jewelry into cash. But is it really worth it?
Consumer Reports' Money Adviser weighs in with some tips and pointers to help you get the most for your gold.
The reality is that most of those ads only pay about a dime on a dollar up to about 20 percent of the daily market value for your gold. Talk about a terrible deal for you!
There is an easy way to figure out the real intrinsic value of gold in your jewelry. Start by looking for the carat, which will be stamped directly on the gold. Then use a kitchen scale to weigh the jewelry and an online calculator to convert the weight based on the carat to determine the value at today's market price.
Now, no one will pay you full retail market price because they've got to make a profit. But this will help you avoid being ripped off. The TV buyers are a joke, according to Money Adviser.
Go with jewelry stores and pawn shops instead. But don't deal with those who won't tell you how much they're paying for gold over the phone. Chances are they want to lure you in to low-ball you.
Finally, remember that jewelry's greatest value is for the design and sentimental value, not the value of the gold contained therein.
Self-service kiosks will be the wave of the future as businesses look to serve their customers in better, quicker and cheaper ways.
Coca Cola now has a new kiosk that allows people to make custom beverages at the touch of a button. Clark is always annoyed if he can't make his own soft drink when he goes into a fast-food restaurant. He wants the perfect mix and only he knows how he likes it!
Associate producer Joel was in a Sam's Club recently that had one of these new Coca Cola kiosks. The first time you use one, it's befuddling and overwhelming, much like it was with early airline check-in kiosks. Yet now between 75 and 80 percent of people use the airline check-in kiosks.
Likewise, The Dallas Morning News reports that Hertz now has 80 percent of its customers using kiosks to rent vehicles. Hotels are starting this too. Restaurants are the final frontier. Clark predicts that we'll soon be placing orders and paying for meals via kiosks at mid-priced restaurants and below.
Meanwhile, the consumer champ was in a home improvement store over the weekend. As it so often is on the weekend, the place was packed with people just milling around. So while others waited in long lines, Clark went to self-checkout and was in and out in a flash.
The flip side to this whole discussion is that some people look at kiosks and say, "Whatever happened to service?" But isn't putting in a kiosk to do things better, quicker and cheaper actually serving the customer?!
Whole Foods is experimenting with refusing to accept checks at locations in California and Arizona. As a high end retailer, they don't have many customers who write checks to begin with. The eventual goal is to ban checks chainwide if there's no pushback from customers.
Clark was in a discount store and had two people writing checks ahead of him. He thought the guy behind him was going to kill a woman who insisted on filling out her register before handing her check to the cashier!
But the real danger comes if somebody steals your checkbook and passes checks as if they were you. Retailers can swear out a warrant for your arrest if the check bounces because of insufficient funds. And that's even if you put a stop on the checks and close out the account!
Now, you can ultimately sue the store for false arrest, but who wants the headache of being imprisoned?
The solution? Don't carry a checkbook on your person. Keep your checks under lock and key at your home or business.
Clark's mind is in the toilet with thoughts on the underlying costs of ultra soft toilet paper!
The consumer champ has seen several newspaper articles about environmentalists being upset over the marketing push for ultra soft toilet paper. The production of this bathroom tissue requires that old growth trees be cut down. Environmentalists prefer that we use toilet tissue made from recycled paper goods.
But Consumer Reports recently rated toilet paper and found that ultra soft brands scored well according to their criteria. Green toilet papers, on the other hand, scored relatively low. In fact, the top green paper came in at unlucky No. 13 on the tally.
In general, Americans prefer ultra soft toilet paper to harder tissue made from recycled goods. And then there's the question of cost. Green toilet tissue tends to be more expensive than your standard issue roll.
When manufacturers can make an affordable toilet paper that's pleasant to use and also good for the environment, that's when he'll buy. But for now, Clark's green goes for something that's not green!
Coupon use for the first half of 2009 is up by 25 percent, according to a recent New York Times report. Americans are on track to redeem some 3 billion coupons this year. By comparison, we redeemed 8 billion during the recession of 1992.
The use of coupons was frowned upon just a few short years ago. But that mentality has changed with the recession. This is low hanging fruit that Clark encourages you to grab. Get your Sunday paper for the glossy coupon circulars and visit CouponMom.com for tips on organization and other key couponing strategies.
And don't overlook the power of brand substitution. If you have a coupon for a brand you're not familiar with, why not give it a try and see if you like it? You may be surprised.
One side note here. There's been a big push to get consumers to use electronic coupons. Clark loaded an e-coupon app on his smart phone, but soon deleted it because he found he never used it. E-coupons have been something of a bust so far. Americans still prefer clipping traditional coupons.
MONEY-SAVING MOMENT: You've probably heard how restaurants at all price points are dropping their prices. But what's been under-reported is a similar trend happening at the grocery register.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has figures showing prices have been declining every month at grocery stores since the fall of last year.
Supermarket chains have had to struggle to get people to keep spending. At first, they convinced people to switch to store brands. But now the grocery chains are struggling as people trade over to cheaper stores like Wal-Mart and Aldi!
This means that the grocery heavyweights like Kroger and Safeway -- and all their various brands across the country -- will have to step it up yet again with more aggressive discounting. Even the warehouse clubs are complaining that they're losing business too in the grocery aisle to the likes of Wal-Mart and Aldi.
Speaking of warehouse clubs, you'll see more clearance merchandise than ever this year at Costco, BJ's and Sam's Club. Here's a quick guide to knowing what's on discount where:
• BJ's will clearly tell you on the label when they mark down.
• At Sam's Club, look for anything that ends in a penny -- such as 81 cents or $24.41 -- or anything marked with a "C" for clearance.
• At Costco, look for anything that ends in 97 cents. Also, price tags with an asterisk means an item will not be reordered. In the latter case, wait until the price ends in a 97 and then buy.
The battle for your toy dollar is on! Toys "R" Us is opening hundreds of new seasonal stores on a temporary basis to ratchet up the competition against Wal-Mart, Target and the warehouse clubs.
Almost 350 "pop-ups," as they're called in the industry lingo, will be opened nationwide for business from October-January. These locations will be marketed under the Holiday Express name to avoid any confusion with the Toys "R" Us brand name.
The Holiday Express business model is a smart one at this point in the recession. After all, some estimates suggest 10 percent of all retail space is vacant and workers are in plentiful abundance to staff the stores.
Yet if you've had a rough year financially, you shouldn't feel guilted into buying gifts for children this season. When Clark was growing up, most children would receive just one gift. The notion of giving piles and piles of gifts and toys is a very modern one.
The penny-pincher recalls when his 4-year-old son was given too many gifts two years ago. He wound up being more interested in playing with Tupperware because it really stimulated his imagination and motor skills. The boy didn't need an official toy to engage in play!
Remember, your kids don't love you based on what material goods you give them; they love you based on how much of your heart you share.
MONEY-SAVING MOMENT: Christmas just got a whole lot cheaper as Wal-Mart has announced they'll price 100 different popular toys at $10 each.
This is a departure from prior years when Wal-Mart had knockoffs of name-brand toys priced at $5, $10 or $15. This year you'll see popular toys from Lego, Nerf, Tonka, Barbie dolls, the Littlest Pet Shop and more.
Clark suggests it might be wise to buy Christmas toys earlier rather than later if you're able to this year. Not sure what the hottest toys of 2009 will be? HotToys2009.com lists them by retailer and availability.
When it comes to the electronics category, many video game systems will be priced at $199 during the coming holiday season. Several discount retailers will even be bundling games with the purchase of a system at $199.
And this week marks the kickoff of the holiday sales season for cell phones. If you're cell phone is on the fritz, Clark suggests buying a used cell phone on eBay to serve out your sentence (ahem, contract) and then go to one of the new no contract plans.
Looking for the best buys this autumn? Kiplinger magazine has put together its latest list of seasonal steals.
• Book your holiday airfare now. Mind you, the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday and Monday after the holiday are the four busiest travel days of the year. So you won't find a deal at any point during those days.
• Landscaping plants are extra affordable. Fall sales are the secret of year-round gardeners. You can also try looking for pre-winter deals.
• The price of appliances makes consumers smile this time of year. Clark got burned on buying a new fridge for a rental property earlier this year. It killed him to see in sales circulars how much cheaper appliances are now!
• Outdoor grills are bargain too. Clark's brother-in-law is crazy for Big Green Egg grills. Because grilling out is seasonal, the deals abound right now.
• Finally, Kiplinger suggests that this is a good time of year to plan your health coverage needs ahead of open enrollment periods at work.
Attorney General Bill McCollum of Florida is taking action against a number of companies that are ripping people off when it comes to advertised rebates.
The difficulty of getting rebates has been a common refrain throughout the years from callers to our show. Very often, it's almost impossible to jump through all the hoops required to get your rebate. And even if you do, sometimes it still won't come to you.
Rebates appeal to people because they make the total purchase price of an item seem cheaper than it actually is.
But Clark's rule of thumb is that the item must be a deal before the rebate in order for you to buy it. A rebate should simply be like icing on an otherwise great piece of cake. Be careful not to overpay in the first place!
Some retailers are getting smarter about rebates. Staples has an online Easy Rebate system that takes all of about a minute to fill out. Costco and BJ's have similar systems.
Best Buy, however, has one-upped everybody by vowing to eliminate all rebates over time. They've already started with laptop computers, offering a cheaper price upfront.
And finally, some drugstores are offering a cousin to the rebate. When you make a purchase, they'll print out a $5 or $10 coupon good for a future store purchase at the bottom of your receipt. This is much preferable to traditional mail-in rebate programs.
Amazon is set to offer a stern challenge to Wal-Mart and other electronics sellers now that the online retailer has launched its own private label line of products.
The Amazon Basics line includes electronics accessories and select items of electronics equipment. Amazon oversees all manufacturing and marketing of the line.
This development promises some great deals for customers. In addition, Amazon's traditional offer of free shipping on orders over $25 is also a great incentive for price-sensitive shoppers.
In other electronics retail news, did you know that BestBuy.com often has merchandise for sale at cheaper prices than you can find in Best Buy stores? The website also tends to puts goods on sale a day earlier than in their traditional brick-and-mortar outlets.
Our nationwide epidemic of insomnia has caused Americans to become obsessed with buying the "right" mattress. It's faulty logic, though; most cures for insomnia involve lifestyle choices -- drinking less caffeine, not watching TV before bed, not working up until the moment you go to bed.
The October 2009 issue of Consumer Reports has taken a look at both mattresses and mattress retailers. The highest mattress rating of all goes to the Tempur-Pedic (average price $2,408). Yet even with the highest rating, only 60 percent of customers say they'd buy a Tempur-Pedic again.
The real story here is the No. 2 mattress, which comes from the Original Mattress Factory (average price $891). Yes, that's right -- the second highest rated product at one-third the cost of the industry leader! Now that's a Clark Smart buy!
It's important to remember that price does not necessarily equate to satisfaction with mattresses. A more expensive mattress may not make for a better product.
When it comes to retailers, Consumer Reports ranked the Original Mattress Factory stores as the top choice for customer satisfaction. Costco Wholesale was a close second.
The high placement for Costco may reflect their return policy on mattresses: A full money back refund without penalty and no time limit. That really makes Costco stand apart!
Now that Cash for Clunkers is disappearing in the rear-view mirror, it's time to gear up for…Cash for Appliances?!
The federal government is readying money for states to set up their own appliance purchase program. The stated goal of the program is to replace energy-guzzling appliances with Energy Star products. But the ulterior motive is to help the appliance industry after it fell apart with the housing market.
Some of the items that will likely be covered include air conditioning units, water heaters, fridges, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers.
But beyond that, it will be up to the individual states to set the parameters of the program. Expect a lot of variance from state to state.
The money should be ready in time for Christmas appliance shopping. "Hey, honey, I got you this new washer for Christmas!" Not exactly a way to win brownie points with the spouse.
The truly odd thing about the program is that you won't have to trade in your old appliance to get the deal on a new one.
One final word of advice: Don't take your old fridge and use it in your garage or basement. It's likely to be an energy beast. Just scrap it once you have a new one.
The back to school season has bombed for retailers. In several parts of the country, kids are already back to school, and in others, they'll be back over the next 2 weeks or so. But enough early numbers are in to paint a very scary picture...and back to school is the best indicator retailers have of Christmas sales.
The retail market has become so hyper-competitive that some office supply superstores are selling items for 1 cent, according to The Los Angeles Times.
To make the market even tougher, Wal-Mart is doing a promo campaign that, on like item to like item, they'll charge you half of what the office super stores will for back to school supplies.
The best way to learn of all the deals at retail is to buy the Sunday newspaper with its glossy sales circulars. ShopLocal.com is another good alternative.
In yet another indication of how difficult the market is, Sam's Club has been sending e-mails to prompt customers to upgrade their memberships from standard to Plus. Plus members get select items at cheaper prices than regular members.
Meanwhile, a quick update on electronics in the marketplace. Clark has been seeing traditional laptops for $279 at select retailers. Another deal he's seen is 42-inch 720p plasma TVs for $499. 720 p means they won't be great with Blu-ray DVDs, but they will be good for regular hi-def TV viewing.
Are you your own worst enemy in a store because you spend money you can't afford?
Executive producer Christa is thankful that her family keeps her busy enough that she doesn't have time for leisure shopping. Her family's big spending challenge is now monitoring food costs and the expense of eating out.
When she does go to a store, Christa tries to only go in for what she's looking for and nothing else. She's particularly careful in retailers like Target and the warehouse clubs.
Target recently told the Associated Press that people have changed their shopping behavior in their stores. Customers now mostly buy health and beauty products, prescriptions and food -- just the basics. What they're avoiding is Target's affordable fashion items, which were previously such a staple of the retailer's business.
At Home Depot and Lowe's, meanwhile, sales of paint and gardening tools are up. People are trying to save money by doing their own home improvement jobs and growing their own vegetables.
New figures from Forrester Research show that 1 in 4 people now put potential purchases back at the register. That's proof positive that consumers are making changes in their shopping habits. Consider that the historical number is around 10% of people doing the same at checkout.
And 60% of online shoppers abandon purchases at the last stage of cyber-checkout.
Let's face it, so much of what we spend is on stuff that we really don't need. The next time that you're tempted to splurge, just remember that you may have to transport that extra junk you're accumulating someday when you move!
Worried about how you'll pay for Christmas shopping this holiday season? Historically, many Americans have gone into credit card debt to do so. It was as if debt was almost a prerequisite for having a cheerful holiday season. But paying for Christmas with credit will never have a storybook ending.
In this new era of thrift, old ideas are becoming new again. Last season, some credit unions started promoting savings clubs for Christmas. These kinds of arrangements have traditionally been known as Christmas clubs.
The basic idea is that you divert money each pay period into an account. Whatever balance you have as you start your Christmas shopping becomes your budget.
BrandWeek.com reports Sears and Kmart are now offering their own Christmas club. A minimum opening balance of $5 is required. Sears and Kmart will offer an additional 3 percent on your balance as an incentive. All money must be used at Sears and Kmart stores. One caveat: Should these retailers go bust, your money goes bust too.
Advance planning is the key to surviving holiday shopping. Prepare now so you don't spend yourself into debt. That's the best gift you could give your wallet.
Are you really getting your money's worth when you pay extra for organic food?
The Washington Post reports that food producers have been able to convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lessen its organic labeling standards. The result is that there are currently 245 products labeled as organic that contain non-organic ingredients.
Organics are a $23 billion business -- the fastest growing segment of the food market. Customers may pay up to twice as much for that organic label.
However, the newspaper estimates that 90% of organic baby formula is not truly organic. Other products singled out because they contain non-organic ingredients include organic cheese, beer and duck. In fact, Consumers Union reports that some supposedly organic foods contain mercury and PCBs.
When buying organic, make sure it is labeled "100% organic." Just seeing the word "organic" by itself is not enough. You should also look for an ingredient list, the name and address of the handler and the name and seal of the organic certifier.
The other hype term out in the marketplace is "natural." There is almost no definition about what this means when it comes to most foods. It is simply a marketing term used in this $13 billion food industry, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
Looking for the best buys of the summer? Kiplinger magazine has put together a list of seasonal steals.
• Fruit and vegetables are in plentiful supply this time of year. Visit FruitSeasons.com to see the cycle on each type of fruit or vegetable so you know the best time to buy the deals. People used to routinely buy in bulk when prices were cheap and then freeze, dry or can produce for future consumption.
• Furniture is a real steal at this time. This is partly because the furniture business tracks the housing market. No housing activity, no need for furniture.
• Gym memberships are on sale. Many people prefer to exercise outdoors when the weather is nicer. If you join a gym, be sure you go with a club where there's no contract and you simply pay month-to-month.
• Broadway show tickets are now on discount up to 50%. Look for cheap ticket outlets in big cities for last-minute purchases. And you might also want to investigate community theater options closer to home too.
• Summer goods are available extra cheap at this point in the season. You could find savings of up to 60% or 70% on things like patio furniture. Ditto for pool toys, beach toys and bathing suits.
Summer officially started June 21, but the deals on seasonal goods at retail are already in effect. The stores have begun focusing on fall; retail always works one season ahead.
So here we are in the height of summer and we already have great markdowns on summer clothing, beach gear and more. People simply are not buying. But now may be the time to pry your wallet open just a little bit.
Clark recently got new golf shirts for $7 each because they were post-season goods!
The consumer champ also has a special strategy for back-to-school shoppers. Don't buy clothes until after school is already in session where you live. Kids' clothes go on deep discount the very moment the school year begins.
And it's not just clothes that get marked down. Clark was in a discount store last year right after school began. He found packages of 12 ballpoint pens for a dime per box, so he bought 10 boxes.
Thank goodness he only paid a fraction of a penny per pen; they turned out to be horrible quality!
Costco has settled a lawsuit over its membership renewal policies. Clark's favorite warehouse club admits to back-dating renewals to the date of expiration. that means they were essentially cheating customers out of time on their memberships!
Under the terms of the settlement, Costco will offer customers who were affected from March 2001 to March 2009 up to 3 months of free membership going forward. Look for a postcard or e-mail in the coming weeks to let you know if you're eligible.
Meanwhile, a new university study done jointly by Harvard Business School and Columbia Business School reveals that customers often buy more than they intend at warehouse clubs.
A university study was necessary to determine this?! Clark could have easily told you that!
For example, executive producer Christa and her husband are on a spending freeze. Yet they couldn't resist a Flip Ultra HD for $199 during a recent Costco outing. Now they're selling some of their belongings on eBay to balance out the unexpected $199 expenditure!
Want to avoid unnecessary purchases at the warehouse clubs? Shop without a cart! Clark only buys what his arms can carry and has lowered his bill dramatically as a result.
Get ready for Christmas in July. Several retailers are starting the holiday shopping season extra early this year to cope with declining sales.
Toys "R" Us is the latest retailer to announce a one-week sale from July 19-25 that promises markdowns of 40% to 50% on select items. The toy retailer's announcement comes after word that Sears will display Christmas decor at many of its stores through July 25.
In addition, Toys "R" Us will cap its weeklong sale with a one-day only promotion on July 25 where kids can make Christmas cards, play games and get a free candy cane.
So this may sound crazy, but if the price is right, now may be the time to buy for the kids on your Christmas shopping list!
Kroger -- the nation's second largest grocer behind Wal-Mart -- has been selling an unprecedented amount of private label goods. According to the latest quarterly report, 1 in 3 items being sold in the store is Kroger's own brand!
With so much mojo surrounding store brands, manufacturers have started trying to bypass the retailers by selling their brands online at new ultra-cheap websites.
Alice.com is one such example where you can get brand names cheaper than just about anywhere else.
Currently in beta, Alice claims to be cheaper than Amazon for groceries. And Alice always offers free shipping and applies current e-coupons right to your order so you don't have to do any clipping.
Clark thinks we'll see more attempts like this from the brand names to get back into your shopping basket.
It's kind of similar to the outlet store phenomenon, where brand names opened their own retail locations as the department stores and mall retailers moved toward private labels.
Sam's Club has come up with a smart new way to attract members. The warehouse club has launched its own auction site, but this is no second-rate eBay. All the merchandise is brand new and brand name, plus it's from one seller only.
Meanwhile, the May issue of Consumer Reports took an in-depth look at the big national players in the grocery industry -- including warehouse clubs like Sam's Club and others.
The top-rated supermarket in the nation was Wegmans, which got the best possible scores in service, perishables and cleanliness. But the prices? Just average.
Trader Joe's came in at No. 2, with a top rating for service and price, a good rating for cleanliness and an average score on perishables.
Publix (No. 3), Raley's (No. 4) and Harris-Teeter (No. 5) rounded out the Top 5. Whole Foods came in at No. 8.
What of the warehouse clubs? Costco is at No. 7, Sam's Club is No. 38 and BJ's is No. 42.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Super Center -- the nation's largest grocery chain -- came in at No. 56 out of 59! They got the worst possible score on service and perishables, a bad score on cleanliness and a good score on price. Kroger -- the second largest chain -- checks in at No. 37.
So who came in last at No. 59? The worst supermarket chain in America is Waldbaum's, according to Consumer Reports.
William Shatner has the right idea as the Priceline Negotiator. How good of a negotiator are you?
Consumer Reports reveals that you can get a better rate on hotels 83% of the time just for the asking. Remember Clark's mantra: "Wow, that much? You don't have anything better?"
Turns out it's not just hotels where you can reap the benefits of negotiation. You can get a lower cell phone bill and better prices on clothing and jewelry about 80% of the time. Ditto for new cars and air fares.
Then you have a 75% of negotiating a lower rate when buying an appliance, and a 71% chance when you purchase electronics and furniture.
Credit card fees can be lowered about 60% of the time through deft negotiation. Of course, that particular figure may drop radically in the near future when you consider today's anemic credit market conditions.
One area where people try to negotiate but usually fail is with medical bills. Yet even so, Consumer Reports says it will still work more than half the time.
Polite persistence is the key to taking advantage of negotiating power. As Consumer Reports says, "Be patient and be nice. Demanding a discount rarely works." Here are a few additional tips from the magazine:
• Learn how to read the inventory tag on items. This will let you know the date when an item went on the shelf. Stores will be more likely to negotiate on items that have been sitting around. • Offer to pay cash on the spot and to take the item with you. • Be willing to walk if you don't get the deal you want.
Garage sale listings are up 80% on Craigslist over the past year, according to The Chicago Tribune.
It's no secret that people need to raise cash however they can. But there's real opportunity at both ends of this deal. Sellers can unload whatever is cluttering their homes at a profit. And buyers get to steal a deal on furniture, accessories, sporting goods, gently used exercise equipment and more.
Clark once picked up a pair of nearly new ski boots for $6!
There are some warnings you should know about before undertaking a garage sale. For buyers, there's always the concern about purchasing recalled items, especially if you're buying for children under the age of 3.
For sellers, you need to know that people will try to shoplift. Beware of people working in pairs, where one person talks to you as a distraction while the other steals. You need to have multiple sets of eyeballs on your merchandise!
Finally, know that serious buyers will show up hours before the start time to steal your best deals.
Need to boost your spending power? The dollar stores are providing more Americans with a hand-up during a down economy.
Dollar General's sales are up almost 10% since last quarter and they're opening 450 new stores, according to The New York Times. Dollar Tree is opening 235 new stores this year. Meanwhile, Family Dollar's sales are up 6.5% year over year.
Even within the world of the dollar stores, there are some important distinctions to note.
Both Dollar General and Family Dollar price a majority of their items at $1, but also offer some merchandise at higher price points. Dollar Tree and the 99-Cent Only chain are both true dollar stores where everything is $1, no exceptions.
Recently at a Durham, N.C. appearance, someone asked Clark if he thinks people will go back to shopping like they once did when the recession ends.
The consumer champ doesn't think so. He believes that we've moved beyond the "shop 'til you drop" mentality and really turned a corner in the financial life of our nation.
Businesses like Target and Starbucks have always survived by the cachet of their names. But in a tight economy, both are trying to reinvent themselves with something new to give them the edge over tough competition.
Historically, Target had always positioned itself as an affordable splurge over the years. Yet suddenly, any kind of splurge is seen as irrelevant and the store's sales are suffering.
So the retailer has hit on the idea of rolling out minimarts in all its stores that don't already have one. You'll find frozen foods and non-perishable groceries, but no fresh produce.
It's an effort to compete with Wal-Mart Super Centers and the traditional supermarkets. In addition, it's expected to increase traffic flow into Target stores and generate other non-food sales too.
The benefit to you is that there's another competitor in the grocery world creating another potential opportunity for a deal.
Starbucks, meanwhile, is seeing its own sales suffer as more and more people turn to McDonald's own line of McCafés. As a result, the Seattle java giant has had to reduce its iced coffee to $1.95 in order to compete with cheaper McCafé fare.
Finally, The Washington Post reports that Pottery Barn is another example of a fancy store that's trying to come up with some newfound sales mojo. So Pottery Barn is now "discounting" its sofa line to start at $1,000. And that's supposed to be affordable?!
RIP-OFF ALERT: Here's a case of the shoe now being on the other foot! Some unsavory consumers have come up with a new way to rip off businesses who sell their wares by phone, internet or mail order.
What being called "friendly" fraud by The Wall Street Journal has spiked by 50% in the last 6 months, according to some retailers.
Here's how it works: A consumer will order an item, receive it through the mail and then dispute the charge with their credit card company. They'll say they never received the merchandise, or it was misrepresented, or whatever other lie they can devise.
Businesses are fighting back any way they can. One retailer documents the entire packaging and shipping process with digital photos so they can dispute a charge-back if one arises.
Others have found that signature confirmation or other tracking methods are equally effective insurance policies.
The monetary toll of friendly fraud can be staggering. One photo equipment supplier averages $130,000/week in fraud orders. About a third of those are of the friendly fraud nature. The rest are people using phony credit cards to make off with expensive equipment.
There's actually nothing "friendly" about friendly fraud at all.
Recently while waiting at an airport gate, Clark was recognized by a young woman who wanted to discuss her money difficulties and credit card debt with the consumer champ.
During the conversation, the young woman paused to take a call on her iPhone. When she returned, Clark asked her how much her iPhone cost each month. She sheepishly confessed it was $130/month!
The penny-pincher suggested it would be a no-brainer for the woman to start getting ahold of her finances by dropping the phone and getting a cheaper one. But she wouldn't consider switching; in her mind, her iPhone was a necessity.
• 49% of Americans say a cell phone is a necessity • 23% say cable or satellite is a necessity • 8% say a flat-screen TV is a necessity • Nearly 50% say air conditioning is a necessity • Some 40% say a microwave is a necessity
And what changes are Americans making in their spending habits?
• Some 66% are shopping at discount stores • 30% are spending less on cigarettes and alcohol • 25% are reducing or canceling their pay TV • 25% are going to a less expensive cellular plan • Some 20% are growing their own vegetables and doing their own repairs on their cars or home
What's a need and what's really just a want in your life? Write in below and let us know!
Staples, Office Depot and Office Max -- the Big 3 office supply chains -- are being hit with a double whammy at the moment. First, there have been sluggish sales because of the economy. Second, they're facing fierce competition from 3 new cheaper competitors.
Those 3 competitors are Amazon.com, Sam's Club and Costco Wholesale. In fact, Costco has opened a new offshoot chain called Costco Business Centers. According to The Wall Street Journal, there are only 9 Costco Business Centers in the entire country, yet they've already raked in $1.25 billion for the year.
The markups at the warehouse clubs are so much lower than what you find at the Big 3. Costco caps all markups at 14%. The Big 3, however, have typical markups of 28% on their products.
If you're not lucky enough to live near a Costco Business Center, Clark recommends buying your office supplies from the standard warehouse clubs and then purchasing whatever else you may need from Amazon.com.
One non-profit organization that took a similar approach was able to save $7,000 of donor money that would have otherwise gone to office supplies, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Guitar Hero recently rocked one consumer in a very unexpected way, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The paper's technology blogs reports that a woman named Jodi bought the extremely popular video game from Wal-Mart as a gift for her 16-year-old son. But when the young man opened the box, he discovered that it contained nothing but rocks and scraps of Chinese newspaper.
This kind of thing happens a lot in the electronics business -- either from internal theft or at the hands of devious customers. People will buy an item, bring it home, open it, put in an equivalent weight of rocks and shrink-wrap it back together. Then they'll return the box to the store as an "unopened" item.
Most retailers won't take responsibility in cases like these. Wal-Mart certainly didn't at first. It took a reporter calling the store to make them check their records. Turns out the particular unit in question had already been bought and returned once, so they were able to make Jodi whole with another unit.
But not everyone can have a newspaper reporter as their advocate. So be sure you have the merchandise you paid for before you actually leave the store!
Two years ago, Clark went berserk over a Supreme Court decision that paved the way for price fixing. The 5-to-4 ruling basically threw out precedent that denied manufacturers the ability to set retail prices.
Now the other shoe is dropping. According to a Dow Jones newswire report, Maryland has a new law going into effect in October that will make it illegal for any manufacturer to tell any retailer what price to charge a customer.
Clark hopes this state law starts a groundswell that could reverse the Supremes' 2007 decision. Think about it like this: When do any of those 9 justices go out and shop like the rest of us? They have no idea what it's like for a family to balance a budget and are just plain out of touch on this issue.
Meanwhile, the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights is looking at enacting a federal law that could overturn the Supreme Court decision.
The consumer champ eagerly awaits such a possibility.
Could there be a worse time for the American people to be stuck paying higher prices than right now?
When you think of private labels, you typically don't think of electronics retailers. Best Buy, however, has had great success taking a cue from the supermarkets and discount stores with its increasingly popular store brands.
Among the private labels Best Buy offers are a bargain brand called Dynex and a high-end brand called Insignia. Much of the public probably thinks those are "real" brands.
For you as a consumer, the advantage is that the Best Buy products are cheaper or better than the national brands. In fact, the company's private label TVs now account for 5% of all TV sales in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The June 2009 edition of Consumer Reports' Money Adviser has a cover story entitled "Best Recession Bargains: How To Get Great Deals on 12 Big Ticket Items."
Clark's take on the story is, well, what's not a deal these days?
Televisions top the tally as the single best bargain out there. Money Adviser recommends that you do not buy an extended warranty. The failure rate on new flat-screens is as little as 3% in the first few years of ownership.
Other items the article singles out include cars, travel, digital cameras, homes, major appliances, clothing, cell phone plans, furniture, gas grills, desktop computers and fitness equipment.
When it comes to digital cameras, Money Adviser says 6 megapixels will be good enough for most consumers. There's no need to pay more for additional megapixels unless you have very specialized photographic needs.
On the issue of cell phone plans, the article recommends pre-paid phones such as Boost Mobile.
Meanwhile, if you're in the market for a gas grill, they recommend you only buy a grill that comes with a 10-year or lifetime burner warranty.
Finally, the key rule when buying fitness equipment is never buy a piece that does not have a tryout period…unless you want it to serve as a very expensive clothes rack if you don't like it.
A recent report in The Dallas News cites some interesting recession indicators courtesy of…7-Eleven?!
Yes, even those who frequent convenience stores are getting cost conscious these days!
According to the report, 7-Eleven customers are buying 18-packs of beer because they offer a better value than the standard 6- or 12-packs. In addition, they're purchasing cheap beer during the week and more expensive brands on the weekends.
When it comes to cigarettes, a heavy federal tax has forced many customers to switch from buying a pack a day to a pack every 3 days. Likewise, people are trading down to $10 phone cards instead of $20 phone cards.
Propane demand is also way up as we continue to see people eating at home instead of dining out.
And in the soft drink aisle, customers are selecting Mountain Dew instead of the fancy newfangled energy drinks. After all, you want to get that jolt from the caffeine content of your beverage, not from sticker shock, right?
When you go to a store, how closely do you watch when your purchases are rung up?
The scanning machines are basically scammers. We have too much faith in computers. If you're not watching carefully, you may overpay.
Massachusetts monitors retailer pricing more closely than almost any other state. They even issue fines to retailers that overcharge. The Boston Globe now reports that the CVS drugstore chain had a 67% increase of overcharging in the state during 2008. By comparison, arch rival Walgreen's had virtually no instances of overcharging.
The article quotes a longtime CVS insider who argues the company believes it's cheaper to pay the fines than to give people the right price. But in Clark's book, that really undermines a brand's credibility.
So don't trust the register scanners. Watch your items as they're rung up. And you definitely don't want to be distracted by talking on your cell at the register.
Meanwhile, Newsday reports that Best Buy is facing a class-action lawsuit over its "meet or beat" price policy.
Best Buy's price-protection policy applies to competitors in the local market area -- but "market area" is not defined. That's allowed the electronics retailer to deny customer requests for cheaper prices and prompted the lawsuit.
Remember that old IBM commercial that showed a suspicious character in a grocery store stuffing his trench coat full of groceries? As the man tries to exit the store, a security guard stops him…and tells him he forgot his receipt!
The ad was anticipating a technology that has now become a reality.
Giant Food is one chain that's introduced handheld scanners in about one-third of their stores, according to The Washington Post. These devices scan your groceries while you shop and keep a running tally of your total bill as you put them in your cart.
Say goodbye to checkout lines!
Clark expects this technology to have a major impact in the grocery industry. For example, he anticipates it will free up store personnel to focus on shoplifting and internal theft.
Americans have changed their spending habits on a dime. Want proof? Clark has a couple of strong examples to share with you.
First, our credit card usage has greatly declined. For the first time ever, the amount purchased on debit cards exceeds the amount purchased on credit cards.
Our collective debt on credit cards is finally under $1 trillion. In fact, it's now $995.7 billion to be exact, according to a recent Federal Reserve report. That's a very positive move.
Of course, Clark has had a longstanding beef with debit cards because they carry very weak protection for consumers versus credit cards. But if using a debit card means that you're spending only what you have, then he's all for it.
Remember, if you live on less than what you make, you reduce the level of anxiety in your life. Do you really want to be that person with the "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go" bumper sticker for the rest of your days?
In another positive example, Americans who thought that Wal-Mart was beneath them are changing their ways too.
The average Wal-Mart customer has a salary of $30,000. But now, the retailer is seeing a surge of new customers with salaries of $50,000. The urge to save has hit us at all income levels. And as a result, sales at Wal-Mart are up because those with salaries of $50,000 spend 40% more than someone who earns $30,000.
For years, Clark has been preaching about the value of buying store brands instead of name brands. But few people heeded his message -- until last year when the recession made it a necessity for many people.
In a surprising twist, The Financial Times of London reports that it's been mainly wealthy families earning more than $100,000 annually who are "trading down" to store brands.
So the brand names now have to figure out how to recapture the mojo for their product lines. For example, Procter & Gamble has decided to reinvent their presentation with what's called performance-based value messaging.
Their new Bounty campaign is "Clean the mess with less." What they're actually saying is that even though Bounty costs more than the store brand, it's actually cheaper because you need far fewer towels to clean up the same mess.
Clark's take on the issue? Don't fall for the advertising. The reality is that store brands are so much better than they once were. The private labels are no longer shelling out inferior goods. So you can be comfortable with saving the money when you buy generic.
In another retail trend, we're now seeing widespread market segmentation of store brands. You may see up to 3 different versions of a particular generic good -- each with a different price point and different packaging.
One product may be superior to the brand name; another may be equivalent in quality but 30% cheaper; and a third will be low quality for a dirt-cheap price, much like the original "no frills" goods of the late '70s and early '80s.
Have you noticed store employees watching you more intently than usual when you leave a store? That should really come as no surprise; shoplifting is skyrocketing around the country.
From a psychological perspective, people feel more entitled to steal at a time when it seems like our nation is enduring a bailout a day.
There's an active market in fencing stolen goods on sites like Craigslist and eBay. For example, the theft of baby formula has been just one problem area for retailers. The product is later fenced online or even at "legitimate" mom-and-pop operations.
The president of the Georgia Retail Association has another reason why he thinks shoplifting may be on the rise. To paraphrase his thoughts from a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution piece, people who didn't once have the idle time to steal have it now that they're out of work!
Retailers have to get increasingly more creative to keep customer count up during a down economy. There's no "one size fits all" formula for it, but Clark wants to share a few reports that have caught his eye.
One small boutique in Arkansas hired a fortune teller to give free readings during a sale, according to the Associated Press. Another boutique brought in a nurse practitioner to do health screenings on customers.
Of course, the traditional approach to capturing customers entails lowering your prices. Clark is seeing a lot of that at boutiques that his wife shops. But if you discount in tough times, you'll look bad when you try to raise prices to their "normal" level when things recover.
In big retailing, the companies doing the best are the ones who are "vertically integrated." An example of this would be Zara, a European clothing retailer that has a relatively low profile in the United States. Zara designs, manufactures and sells their clothes -- they're the whole package -- and that's what makes them vertically integrated.
The average ticket price at Zara is $27, according to The Wall Street Journal. Zara is particularly good at monitoring runway fashions in Paris and elsewhere, and then designing, manufacturing and selling similar garments in about 2-3 weeks. Wow, that's fast!
There are some new signs emerging about just how badly retail is suffering through the economic downturn.
First, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the debt of Macy's and J.C. Penney to junk-grade status. That means there are questions about whether their bonds will ever be paid off. It's a sure sign of financial instability in these veteran retailers.
Macy's and J.C. Penney have price points that are expensive and mid-priced, respectively. But at the other extreme, a discount merchant called Filene's Basement is eyeing bankruptcy.
Need more signs? The usually expensive Toys R Us is now introducing a discount store within its stores called $1-$2-$3 Fun! shops. The emphasis is on affordable $1, $2 and $3 choices of toys.
The $1-$2-$3 Fun! shops aren't being hidden in a corner, either. They're being placed right up front to create a sense of value from the moment you walk in.
The question of value is really perplexing businesses these days. Most respond to it by discounting their prices.
Panera Bread, however, has a different philosophy.
"We continue doing what we do, which is to concentrate on the quality of the experience," founder/CEO Ron Shaich told The Financial Times of London. "Everyone is degrading their competitive message. They are sacrificing it in the interest of gaining sales tomorrow, simply based on price. And when you compete on price, you simply tell people what you are worth, which is less than what you were selling it for the week before."
It's important to note that Panera's stock is doing better than any restaurant chain in America and their sales are up.
The problem for businesses who want to lower prices in a recession is that, over time, you destroy the perceived value of what you make and sell.
And that's coming from a man like Clark who is always willing to accept lower quality for a lower price!
So there is something to be said for knowing what you're about; doing it better than anyone else; and continuing to charge a fair price for goods or services that people perceive as a value.
Food safety is now front and center in the public's mind following the recent peanut scare.
Clark is a Costco Wholesale member and was recently alerted by the warehouse club that a box of Clif Bars he purchased had been recalled. Some people say there's a creep-out factor to Costco knowing everything that every member ever bought, but in this case, it was a very good thing.
Yet what if you bought a recalled product anonymously at a supermarket?
Grocery retailer Kroger is experimenting with a checkout-based solution at its Ralphs and Food for Less locations across the country.
If a recalled item is scanned, the register will actually block the sale and issue an audible warning, according to The Los Angeles Times.
There is some pushback in the industry over this issue. Retailers see it as just one more thing to deal with in their chain of responsibility.
But you have a right to have a safe food supply, especially if you have children. Clark hopes the sheer pressure of market share will prompt other chains to follow Kroger's lead.
Store brands are really gaining momentum in this time of a slowing economy. Grocery retailer Kroger reports it's now getting close to 30 cents out of every dollar of revenue from sales of its private label brand.
Private labels are so much cheaper than name brand goods, typically by about 35% or more.
Clark recalls the first big wave of private label goods back in the '70s. They were just awful and came in plain white packages with black lettering. No logo whatsoever.
But today, private labels meet or exceed the name brands at a cheaper price. Retailers get more money whenever they're purchased and shoppers are obviously happy too.
Wal-Mart has historically been about offering brand names for less, but they're reintroducing their Great Value private label because the timing is right. Likewise, Costco Wholesale is trying to reinvigorate its Kirkland Signature brand.
Both stores hope to experience some of the mojo that Kroger has going right now with its private label.
As Christa notes, many private labels succeed in catching your eye because the packaging has become more fun over the years. Her children particularly love a no frills brand of oatmeal because of the cartoons on the box.
No longer is it necessary to buy the store brand cereal and pour it into the brand name box to fool the kidlets!
Have you heard of a "closet boutique"? This is a new phenomenon that The Weekend Journal recently reported on where women open up their closets at home to sell designer clothes. Closet boutiques are typically advertised on Craigslist.
Last month, there were 715,000 postings for closet boutiques on Craigslist -- more than double the amount than last year at this time.
One caveat here, obviously: You'll certainly have some crazies come into your home if you have a closet boutique sale. Be sure to store away all your valuables, and make sure you have enough eyeballs on hand to ensure that people don't wander around your home and shoplift.
For buyers, of course, a closet boutique offers the opportunity to pick up designer duds at a tiny fraction of their new cost.
In related news, Amazon has announced it's getting into the used gaming market with a new trade-in service. Those who have old games to trade in will get Amazon credit to spend.
"No/No/No plans" will soon get a makeover thanks to new rules from the Federal Reserve.
Clark has received numerous complaints about these kinds of financing plans that promise "no payment, no down payment and no interest until (fill in the blank with a year of your choice)."
What most people don't know is that the interest usually becomes retroactive to the original date of purchase if you don't pay the bill in full before it comes due.
But the Federal Reserve's new rules, which go into effect July 2010, will ban the retroactive interest charge -- unless the full and final interest rate is clearly disclosed at the time of purchase.
The new rules are already putting a big crimp on the market. Retailers typically count on those who get stuck paying retroactive interest on "no, no, no" plans to subsidize their loss on those customers who pay the note in full in a timely manner.
The recession has been a real boon for supermarkets as more people having been buying store brands and eating at home instead of going out to restaurants.
But what can you do when even the supermarkets are not cheap enough for you?
In a new trend, some people have begun shopping at salvage food stores. These are the types of stores -- usually located in metro areas -- that sell dented cans and all kinds of food that is very nearly expired. To say that the prices are rock-bottom is an understatement.
Our producer Joel tried salvage stores when he was in college. He jokes that he's surprised to be disease-free after repeatedly going around 10 or 12 times. They can be that dirty in his experience!
But Joel estimates that he saved up to 75% off traditional food prices by shopping at salvage stores.
Clark is intrigued by the idea of salvage stores and has vowed to check one out. We'll let you know how it goes…
There are tens of millions of Americans who are among the "great unbanked" in our country. These hard-working Americans can't take their paycheck and direct deposit it into a bank because they've been banned from having an account -- usually for 5 years -- after running afoul of the ChexSystem.
So what are their options? Well, they can go to a check casher and pay big fees to cash their payroll check -- plus more fees if they want to pay a bill or get a money order.
Wal-Mart has a different solution in mind…and it's one that Clark calls the "best deal in America -- without question."
At Wal-Mart, you can take your paycheck and deposit it onto a stored-value card (aka pre-paid card) for a monthly fee of just $3. That's vastly cheaper than going to a check casher. And you can use it anywhere that the Visa card logo is shown -- not just at Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart's stored-value card also removes the threat of personal hazard to the holder. Thugs are known to prey on those people who go to check cashers. They hide out nearby and jump them for their wad of cash when no one is looking.
Any way you look at it, the Wal-Mart option is a winner for those who don't have bank accounts.
What have you changed in your life with all the bad economic news? Even those of us who are not affected -- either we're safe in our jobs or we don't carry any debt -- are making changes.
There's even a new term in the marketing world -- "insourcing" -- to encompass the idea of doing things yourself to save money instead of paying someone else to do it. An example of this would be Target's latest ad campaign.
A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 70% of us believe the current economic downturn will last at least into 2010. More than one-third of us think it will run through at least 2011 or 2012.
Nobody knows about the duration for sure, so we're really analyzing how we spend our money. Some of us are even turning DIY (do it yourself). The Washington Post reports that sales of sewing kits at Wal-Mart are up 30% in just the last few months. People are mending their own clothes instead of paying a tailor or seamstress.
Landscapers are affected too. People who used to pay someone else to tend their yard are now doing it themselves. The landscaping business is down about 7% as a result.
In yet another example, Proctor and Gamble is getting a big increase in people wanting to know how to dye their hair at home. They're specifically looking to match the color a professional already put in.
Two-thirds of us make these nips and tucks. One-third of us are doing so out of the necessity of a layoff or having our hours cut back at work.
However, insourcing may just be a temporary phenomenon pending an economic recovery.
A couple of ads recently caught Clark's eye because they really sum up the change in attitude in America during these troubling economic times.
First, there's JetBlue's full-page ad in The New York Times and elsewhere. This cheeky ad pitches to "CEOs, CMOs, CTOs, CFOs -- basically anyone with a 'C' in their title…Former Treasury Secretaries…[and] Recipients of Secret Seven-Figure Bonuses," among others. See the full ad.
What JetBlue is doing is tapping into a lot of class resentment about the spoiled brats on Wall Street who played fast and loose with money. They're really striking the whole "it's not fair" nerve that's been exposed in Americans by the continuing financial and auto industry bailouts.
Of course, this is a very timely ad; you could show it to a college advertising class in 15 years and they'd have no idea what it's all about!
Meanwhile, Target also has a new ad campaign that aims to reinvent the retailer's image for new, leaner times. Target has always positioned itself as an affordable splurge over the years. Suddenly, any kind of splurge is seen as irrelevant and the store's sales are suffering.
So the Target campaign is all about the "new." A recent circular showed the "new" room service (private label OJ and cereal at home); the "new" commute (a man in a suit on a bicycle); the "new" personal trainer (home exercise equipment); and the "new "restaurant (eating at home). All things that can be pricey, but are now being reinvented on the cheap. You get the picture.
This is a sign of the time as Target tries to reconnect with those shoppers who are going to places like Wal-Mart instead to save a buck.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) went into effect today and requires testing of children's toys and clothing for dangerous amounts of lead and phthalates.
The Wal-Marts, Targets, Costcos and Toys R' Uses of the world are the intended targets of the new legislation.
But there is still widespread confusion about the law. As recently as 4 days ago, the Consumer Product Safety Commission -- the enforcers of the CPSIA -- had said that retailers would only be penalized if they knowingly sold goods in violation of the law.
Complicating the issue is a district court judge who ruled that all untested children's toys and clothes made before Feb. 10 must be removed from shelves. This has confused retailers who don't know what's safe and what's not to sell.
Then there's the question of whether small businesses that make handcrafts will be shutdown because of the CPSIA. Once again, Clark wants to emphasize that the CPSIA was not written with small business in mind. There is a zero percent chance that you'll be put out of business, according to the penny-pincher.
A recent IBM survey of 30,000 people uncovered several trends that speak to the dawn of a new day in consumerism.
Some 90% of those polled are changing what they spend to some degree. That may seem like a no-brainer to many of you. Consider, however, that 90% of the general population is not facing hard times. What's happened is that our psychology has shifted to a place where we're all worried and feeling pinched even if we're not in reality.
The biggest revelation from the IBM survey is that 30% of those polled have become what are called "shifters." That means they have absolutely no store or brand loyalty; they just want the most for their money wherever they can get it. Of course, that also means 70% are still brand and store loyal, but the best deals will obviously flow to the 30%.
One final thought: Just because we're facing tough times, it doesn't mean that things will always be this way. That kind of belief -- that our economy will just keep going further down -- is called "inertia bias" in psychology and economics. But it's not true.
So it's not a question of "if" the economy will recover -- it's a question of "when."
Aldi is poised for a growth surge in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal. There are currently about 1,000 store locations throughout the country.
Clark's beloved hard discounter is so powerful that they were able to send Wal-Mart home with tail between legs when the latter tried to enter Aldi's home market of Germany. The ultra-cheap chain now has estimated annual sales of $7 billion.
Shoppers can save up to 40% off traditional supermarket prices at Aldi. But beware that the shopping experience may not be for everyone. The stores are about the size of a neighborhood chain drugstore; they have limited hours; there are no grocery bags; many only take cash, while other may accept select debit cards -- but no credit cards; and you can usually count on long lines, small aisles and limited selection.
Private labels are king at Aldi. In a Howard family taste test, everyone preferred Aldi's Oreo Double Stuff imitation to the real deal. And the best part of all? It cost one-third less than the Oreo product!
Are you tempted to try to steal a deal at Circuit City now that the chain is going out of business? Be careful -- you may actually wind up paying more than you expect!
Liquidation sales can be good during their final days, but Clark has a warning about the kinds of prices you'll see in the early and middle stages.
Here's the deal: Failing business like Circuit City put their assets up for bid and a third-party liquidation firm comes in to handle the going out of business sale. These liquidators are experts at creating the illusion of a deal. Normally, they bring in "fake" merchandise that was never in the store before and jack up the prices just to mark them down.
So even as they supposedly discount, they still make huge margins by pretending the merchandise was worth much more upfront. You think you're getting a deal, but you're really getting rooked.
On a human note, 34,000 former Circuit City employees are now being added to the unemployment rolls. Clark believes Circuit City's real downfall came when they decided to cut costs by firing knowledgeable staff in 2007. You know the end is near anytime a company sees its people as an expense instead of a money-making asset.
Finally, there's a related warning that Clark wants to sound regarding the high/low pricing model beloved by electronics retailers and others. The idea here is to lure you in on a sale item and then sell you other things on a markup.
For example, HDTVs are very price competitive at most retailers. HDMI cables, however, can be purchased for as little as $2 or more than $100 depending on the retailer. The difference? $98 -- the cable is exactly the same! So beware of jacked up prices on some goods that offset retailer losses on other merchandise.
Black Friday took a tragic turn when a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by a mob of riotous shoppers in New York. Early reports suggested that many shoppers wouldn't let other workers get to the fallen employee to help him; they just kept trampling over his body. The police had been called in for crowd control, but had to leave because there were 3 other near-riots underway at other stores.
American retail has got to think of a new way to handle Black Friday. Maybe it involves assigning people numbers via the Internet that dictate when they can come to shop. Anything so we don't duplicate this mob frenzy ever again.
Of course, it is possible to do Black Friday and have fun. Our producer Joel and a friend went to Wal-Mart at 1 a.m. They played cards in the store until 5 a.m., when he could buy a 42-inch LCD (1080p) for $598.
All in all, sales were up 7% from a year ago at a time when retailers were expecting a big lump of coal. The coal came on Saturday and Sunday after the initial excitement of the day after Thanksgiving. Clark went to a Target on Sunday and he swears there were more employees at the store than customers!
Some of the best deals to be had this Black Friday were on clothing. The GAP reportedly had buy-one-get-one cashmere sweaters. But that didn't interest Clark; he only likes single-digit clothing. At a Wal-Mart, he found ski gloves marked down to $5. What will he do with 35 pairs?? Just kidding!
During this Black Friday, you can expect to see huge sales on electronics and toys. Clothing will not be that key of an item on that day -- even though there will be some deals on threads too.
One big electronics sale item this year is going to be Blu-ray players. In general, people haven't been buying Blu-rays even when they're discounted because the movies are very expensive. This year, however, several retailers will be offering Blu-ray movies at $10 each.
This is also the first Black Friday that the Wii will be available in meaningful supply -- and it's being discounted. Sam's Club is doing a family bundle that comes with accessories and 3 games for $224. (Editor's note: Thanks to our listeners who pointed out that there was a typo on the Black Friday website Clark was looking at when he mentioned this on air. The correct price now appears to be in the $425-$450 range.)
It also looks like the penny-pincher's September prediction about 42-inch flat-screen TVs for $499 is going to be right.
Meanwhile, you can expect stores such as TJ Maxx, Marshall's and Costco to have some great inventory. Why? They're among the few truly ethical retailers with ironclad policies that demand they pay suppliers for merchandise within 30 days or so. That's so atypical in retail.
Clark loves the electronics deals you can scoop up on Black Friday -- the Friday after Thanksgiving that's typically thought of as the biggest shopping day of the year.
Wal-Mart's Black Friday deals have leaked, and there are some real steals to be had:
• 50-inch flat-screen TVs for $798 (instead of some $2,000) • Blu-ray players for $128 • Xbox with a Guitar Hero package for $199 • A microwave for $25 • Clothing for children starting at $4 • Tons of toys for under $10 each
But you may not even have to wait until Black Friday to start saving. Retailers are fearing the worst about the economic slump and already rolling out the Black Friday deals to entice shoppers. Visit BlackFriday.info, GottaDeal.com and BFAds.net for further information.
One note: It's called Black Friday because retailers spent most of the year losing money (aka being in the red) and traditionally only started making money (aka being in the black) on this day.
There are so many warnings about how dangerous it can be to buy gift cards this Christmas. Under current law, if a restaurant or retailer goes bust, it falls to the bankruptcy court judge to determine the rights of gift card holders. But most judges have been unanimous in wiping out gift card holders.
Now Clark has learned that various consumer groups are petitioning the FTC to issue guidelines that would require retailers and restaurants to escrow gift card money. This would protect consumers and safeguard them from getting burned in the event a business goes bust.
There is one kind of gift card that Clark likes -- the kind where you get more than you pay for. For example, some restaurants might offer $125 worth of food if you buy a $100 gift card. Yet even Clark has gotten burned on this type of gift card once.
Clark wants to thank his Phoenix affiliate KFNN for hosting him during a daylong Habitat house build in the Grand Canyon State. The build was sponsored by a local credit union and included national sponsors such as Boeing, Intel and others.
This was the local Habitat affiliate's 707th house build. Each individual Habitat affiliate uses a different method of construction, so Clark learns something new wherever he goes.
The whole point of Habitat's mission is to build affordable housing. In Phoenix, families need to put 400 sweat equity hours into the construction process. This particular house Clark helped build for a day was going to Muslim refugees from Kosovo who had a 3-year-old child.
So here you have an evangelical Christian organization building a home for a Muslim family -- who had to flee the violence of war in their homeland. It's a heartwarming story.
In all, Clark spent 4 days in Phoenix and ate at In-N-Out Burger 3 times! He also got to go to Fresh & Easy. He previously spoke about the grocer, but he never had the chance to make a visit. The store was absolutely freezing -- employees even had to wear overcoats -- because they sell groceries with no preservatives that need to be kept at refrigerated temperatures. Clark loved the prices he saw on name brands, but he doesn't know how long Fresh & Easy will be around if they keep losing money like they have so far.
Have you noticed that electronics and toys are packaged with seemingly indestructible anti-shoplifting packaging? Sometimes it seems like manufacturers get joy out of knowing people struggle to open their packages.
In an effort to ease shoplifting concerns, some retailers have taken to locking their merchandise up in a cage. They simply display empty boxes on the shelves. But the funny thing is that when you get the item out of the cage, it's still packaged in the indestructible pod!
Now Amazon is putting new emphasis on what's being called "frustration-free packaging." The company is declaring war on "wrap rage" by launching streamlined packaging on about 2 dozen popular products. Clark hopes that Amazon's marketplace dominance will force manufacturers to make similar packaging changes across the industry.
Just days ago, Clark shared a recap of his anger over Circuit City's 2007 decision to fire all their knowledgeable employees and managers in an effort to cut the company's bottom line.
The fruit of that decision has now been revealed: Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy. "The intelligent choice" was once the company's slogan. The intelligent choice? Get real, people.
Circuit City gift cards are still being honored -- for now. But as The Wall Street Journal points out, now is great time to use any Circuit City gift cards and take advantage of their special closing-out sales. Remember, a gift card is just a promise to honor your legal tender at a later date. But that's a bad bet now with retailers and restaurateurs failing.
Now let's turn to GM. Analysts have found that GM stock has sunk to the lowest level since WWII. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. GM's market value is back to where it was when we had just defeated the Nazis. The company's CEO now says they will need a bailout from the lame-duck Congress. They can't even survive until Obama gets in office.
As you may know, Clark is totally opposed to any bailout of the automakers. He believes it's bad for the country and bad for our image around the world. In capitalism, you're supposed to go bust if you can't make it. And if we bail the Big 3, where does it all end? Should the owner of the corner hardware store go to Washington looking for help because the housing market slowed and he or she can't compete with the big box stores?
Yes, Clark knows we opened up a Pandora's box with the Wall Street bailout, which he thought was a necessary evil. But it's a whole different issue when you're talking about bailing out individual corporations that have failed.
And much like the Circuit City gift card concern, if you buy a GM car and they go bust, will your warranty be any good? We've been getting so many calls about dealerships offering free tires for life and then going bust. Know that a promise only stands if the business is still around to honor it.
We have changed so much about how we shop in these tough economic times. We're buying more generic and store brands than ever seen before. This trend has cut across income levels and even affects what people who have not been pinched in the wallet are buying.
The October retail sales figures were pitiful for stores selling mid-range and high-end goods. Just about the only retailer looking good is Wal-Mart. No surprise there!
Meanwhile, Whole Foods -- a real symbol of people wanting a fancier grocery shopping experience -- has had to close stores and cut back on new store openings. They also needed a private injection of $425 million to stay afloat.
Clark's wife loves shopping at Whole Foods, which Clark derisively calls "Whole Paycheck" because of their expensive prices. Thankfully, they have a defibrillator near the register for the penny-pincher when he accompanies his wife! Clark is hopeful that Whole Foods can figure out a good value proposition for their customers. But they face a threat from Trader Joe's, which always seems to open near Whole Foods locations and siphons customers away.
In the long run, if we continue our newfound emphasis on thrift, it will help make a wealthier America. Yes, it hurts retail in the short term and makes our current recession deeper. But the recovery down the road will be ironclad.
Going back to May 2007, Clark went berserk about the Circuit City CEO who decided to fire experienced employees and managers in order to cut costs. Clark was outraged at the inhumane way the company treated loyal longtime employees.
It didn't take an analyst to see what the result of the move would be: Customers walked when they couldn't get any decent help in the stores. Now Circuit City is barely alive and Clark doesn't see how they'll get out of this jam. After all, many suppliers aren't shipping merchandise to them anymore -- because they know the company is on its last leg.
Retail is entirely self-cleansing. If you don't meet the needs of your customers, you cease to exist. Circuit City is simply getting what it deserves.
Remember, you're nothing without your employees. Businesses have to romance their workers, so that their workers will romance the customers. Managers should use specific individualized positive reinforcement when dealing with employees. Clark compares it to the process of raising a child; you've got to nurture, encourage, support and discipline that child with specific examples.
CLARKONOMICS: Federal data now shows that consumer spending has dropped at the greatest rate since 1974. Many adult Americans have no historical frame of reference to gauge things by when it come to that. So this will be the first true belt-tightening that some of us will have to go through.
Clark's old rule applies to today's climate: If you're pinched in the wallet, try to limit the amount of time you're in a store -- even for groceries. Go to a strict shopping-list system to avoid impulse purchases and buy your non-perishables only once a month. When it comes to perishables, you should only get them on an as-need basis.
You can save by not being in the grocery aisle. Also, try Amazon.com as a place to buy your non-perishables -- if it proves to be a cheaper option for you. Of course, any grocery industry analyst can tell you that one of the cheapest places to buy your groceries is Aldi!
In a related arena, we can expect more unemployment in the coming months. Clark always thinks it's particularly sad when someone is doing great on the job and they're still canned because of larger market forces. He's seen that happen several times over the years in the radio industry.
There's no time like the present to trim your spending, build some savings and reduce your debt!
What are you doing with your retirement savings plan? New research from Money magazine show a pretty even split down the middle, with about 50% of investors going to the sidelines and 50% staying in the game.
Clark only analyzes his holdings on a quarterly basis. He doesn't react to every movement of the Dow. After all, the Dow is only a measure of 30 stocks. If you want to look at one indicator, try the S&P 500. At least that monitors 500 publicly traded companies.
So, yes, Clark has lost money, but he's not changing anything. He has a plan and goal that he's sticking to -- instead of making an emotional decision. Historically, stocks recover before an economy does because stocks are a forward-looking indicator.
On the flip side, a nice little run-up does not mean the coast is clear. Investors talk about the "dead cat bouncing," which means that anything looks like it is on the way up if it falls from high enough. That's why Clark recommends dollar-cost averaging, which is a clever little term for putting money in steady as you go. It's like buying distressed merchandise.
Clark contributes automatically through his payroll, plus he has a separate investment account where he puts his money in on the 17th of each month. Before you go thinking 17 is the magic number, that's actually just an arbitrary day that he uses!
Human nature being what it is, we have a tendency to buy high and sell low. Try to resist that impulse when you hear the drumbeat of negative news. Half of you are with Clark and half of you are not, according to the Money stats. Think 2 or 3 times before bailing out completely.
Clark has a special tip and warning concerning the many retailer failures that we'll likely have from now until mid February. That means you can expect a wave of going out of business (GOB) sales advertising anywhere from 20% to 90% off!
But beware, things aren't always what they seem. A failing business will put their assets up for bid and contract with the third-party liquidation firm that comes in with the highest bid. The GOB liquidator gets the right to operate under the name of the previous business for a specified period. They buy the existing inventory for so many cents on the dollar, plus bring in goods that were never in the store.
That's right, they bring in "fake" merchandise that is marked up just so it can be marked down. The GOB liquidator typically also offers retention bonuses for the old workers to stay on or they simply bring in new employees.
Even as they discount, they make huge margins by pretending the merchandise was worth much more upfront. You think you're getting a deal, but you're really getting rooked.
Clark thinks states should require a 2-color price tag system: One for original stocked merchandise and a second color for "fake" goods. Of course, he doesn't see this happening -- especially considering the powerful retail lobby at the state level.
One final warning: With more retailer failures coming, do not buy gift cards! A gift card is going to be Confederate money. So what should you give? Try cold hard cash.
El Cheapo Man has a confession to make -- he's not that great with couponing. Clark doesn't like going through the Sunday fliers and clipping coupons. He'd rather just go to Aldi and buy groceries at a great savings.
But many don't like the Aldi experience or they may not be in your state. So if you go to a traditional supermarket, you may now be able to have the coupons electronically appended to your membership card. Check with your store to see if they participate.
In another development, you can even get coupons sent directly to your cell phone. Clark is registered for a free service called CellFire.com that sends barcode coupons to his handset. He simply scans the coupon at the register directly from his phone. What a way to get the savings and not be annoyed with clipping coupons!
Editor's note: While CellFire.com is free, your wireless carrier may charge a fee when you use the service. See the company's terms of service for more information.
Clark loves traveling to Europe, but he's often taken aback by the high cost of food. His solution? Shopping at hard discounters like Aldi, Lidl and Netto. Aldi is the only one of the 3 that has a presence in the United States with about 1,000 stores and growing.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Americans spend only 1% of their grocery dollars in hard discounters. In Europe, that figure is 11%. Europeans also buy 1 out of every 4 items as a store brand. Here in the U.S., however, we're so influenced by advertising that many people won't buy the store brand.
The store brand food at Aldi is just as tasty, but you spend up to 40% less vs. a traditional supermarket. When you go to a hard discounter, here's what you can expect: No grocery bags; limited banker's hours; cash-only purchases; long lines; small aisles; and only one-fifteenth the selection of a usual grocery store. But the latter can work to your benefit -- there's no need to compare 5 brands of the same item because you only have 1 or 2 choices!
As a longtime Aldi customer, Clark has noticed that the shoppers seem to be either very affluent or quite poor -- based on the cars in the parking lot. It's as if middle-class people don't think it's respectable to shop at a hard discounter.
Clark has a special warning concerning credit cards for those who travel. American Express -- which has reported lower earnings and a much higher rate of charge-offs -- is using new software that can unexpectedly harm some of its best customers.
According to The Wall Street Journal, AMEX now uses data-mining software to analyze where you use your card and shut off your credit line if they deem it necessary -- based on where you shop. This is even happening to elite customers who carry Platinum cards.
Customers who shop at Wal-Mart or Marshall's, plus those who have a mortgage through Countrywide, are suspect in AMEX's estimation. The company's software tells them that those customers are more likely to default on their accounts -- even if they've never been late in their lives!
This is really just a gross overreaction on AMEX's part. Clark shops at Wal-Mart, so he's expecting his Costco-branded AMEX to be shut off at some point! And furthermore, the logic just doesn't seem to work out here. Would shopping at overpriced high-end stores at the mall then mean you're more likely to pay your bills than shopping at a discount store?
The MBAs must have too much time on their hands, to take discrete pieces of info and make an ironclad determination about you. As always, the forum is open for an AMEX spokesperson to come on the show and refute The Wall Street Journal's report.
The takeaway here is that you should have more than 1 line of credit available at all times, especially if you travel. Who wants to be stuck somewhere and not be able to rent a car or get a hotel room?
Of course, you should only have multiple lines of credit if you know you won't spend yourself into oblivion!
Have you heard about neo-haggling? The Chicago Tribune reports this new trend involves haggling in stores that you normally wouldn’t. Macy’s even had to release a statement expressly stating that they do not haggle.
Stats suggest that half of all consumers haggle at stores that in the past were thought of as fixed price. In a shocking development, people are even bargaining at restaurants! Just don’t try to haggle on a bill after you’ve eaten the food, Clark says. That’s really nervy!
It’s gotten easier to negotiate as many stores have a “we will not be undersold” policy. So go on the web, print out a cheap price and try to get a match at your favorite retailer. That’s the un-nervy way to do it.
As he’s traveled throughout the Third World, Clark has never liked the bazaar mentality where a price is not a price; it’s just a starting point for negotiation. That’s not his kind of game. But obviously people love it all across America.
Clark does, however, use online coupon code sites like CouponMountain.com and DealNews.com, among others. Once during a Dell purchase, he found an online coupon code and got an unexpected discount that was much better than just the usual free shipping offers that abound on such sites.
The penny-pincher also checks Woot.com everyday. Woot sells only one item per day at a rock-bottom price. Clark recently got a memory chip for his phone that was cheaper than he’d ever seen it anywhere before.
There's a popular Texas expression during the political season that goes, "All hat, no cattle." It basically means someone is all talk with nothing to back it up.
Clark was starting to feel like he was "all hat, no cattle" when he kept hammering home that right now is a golden moment for entrepreneurs. Now he wants to share some corroborating evidence to support his position.
The vacancy rate in malls is around 8.5%, and it's expected to head higher. Pretty soon every 1 in 10 square foot of retail space will be empty across the country.
This is great news for business owners. It means they can shop the market for better rent or nicer digs. There will also be plenty of sublet opportunities for those entrepreneurs just starting out.
When Clark was a business owner, he routinely got smaller spaces, smaller desks and smaller chairs to keep his overhead down. He'd squeeze more people into smaller square footage. Christa's just glad that he's not in charge of the studio facilities. She likes her spacious office too much!
In addition to just finding cheaper space, a down economy allows you to hire labor for less and get cheaper advertising. So now may be the ideal time to try out that entrepreneurial idea you've always had. Think about Sol Price and Fred Smith who launched the first warehouse club and FedEx, respectively. They both created business models that never existed before and then morphed them to keep up with the times.
Special thanks to KPAM-AM in Portland, Oregon, for hosting Clark today.
This holiday season, retailers are hurting at the only time of year that some of them ever make a penny. Naturally, many have responded by slashing prices. Wal-Mart is offering toys at $10 a piece to appeal to financially stretched customers. This should have a ripple effect in the marketplace. The mega-retailer is also beginning its full Christmas rollout now as they try to get people shopping before Halloween!
Other retailers are reducing prices too. Home Depot and Lowe's are both getting decimated as people have stopped spending on their houses. So Home Depot has lowered prices on some 1,000 items to create a value proposition. Also, when it comes to home improvement, now is a great time to zig when others zag. Contractors will be more responsive and their prices will be cheaper when their business is in a slump.
If you're struggling this holiday season, try doing something other than buying gifts. Make a meal, craft a gift or just spend time with your loved ones in lieu of shopping for more stuff they'll wind up returning. It's gotten to the point where the holidays are just a shopping festival far distanced from their original religious origins.
This Christmas is going to be very different for retail. You'd have to go back to 1991 or the early '80s to see a similar period when people cooled on the "shop 'til you drop" mentality. This year, we're worried about layoffs, having our hours cut back and other economic woes.
Retailers know we're on a buyer's strike, so they've paired back on their buying. Those who didn't use fancy software to track and predict sales trends -- such as Sears -- had to take big markdowns because they overbought. After all, the buying decisions for Christmas were made earlier this year before the economy got overly soft. To complicate things this year, the key weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are almost a week shorter than in 2007.
So here is Clark's prediction: Sales for Christmas will start in mid to late October -- not Nov. 1 as it has been in recent years. You'll find the best deals up through about Dec. 10 and then again after Jan. 5. The real deep bargains happen in January. And of course, Black Friday will have the deals, but you shouldn't have to wait that long this year.
Being out of style -- like Clark -- is in style again! Shopping at second hand stores is gaining in popularity. The goods they have are of a higher quality than just a few years ago -- thanks to the waning fortunes of some who were living high on the hog and now have unloaded their wardrobes.
The Los Angeles Times now reports that 80% of second-hand stores are experiencing a jump in traffic over the last 12 months. Meanwhile, people are even buying used wedding dresses on eBay, according to the report. One woman bought hers for $20 on eBay!
To those who turn their noses up at wearing used clothes, you've got to realize the clothes are laundered. And did you ever stay at a hotel? That bed has been used by strangers night after night. The sheets are fresh, of course, but you're sleeping in the same bed.
So don't be afraid of used clothes. Our senior producer Kim buys 60% of her clothes used and only pays single-digit prices.
Clark has a special warning as we approach the holiday season about avoiding having your money blown to smithereens on gift cards.
The danger is that more and more retailers and restaurants are going to face extinction in a tight economy. That means a gift card you buy today may be fool's gold tomorrow. And let's not even mention "breakage," which is a term that denotes the huge profits made when a gift card goes unredeemed.
Not sure what to give someone if you're not going the gift card route? Try cash. It's not as crass and unsentimental as it sounds.
Learn this in the school of Clark Smarts before you learn it in the school of financial hard knocks!
"Call now! Operators are standing by!" Clark wants you to be careful about TV offers. He recalls a fun news story he did about five years ago where he ordered a number of products off television ads. Each one was hyped to be the greatest product ever sold. In the news spot, they first showed the TV demonstration, then they cut to Clark actually using that same item. Not a single product worked like it did in the commercial! One of his favorites was an ultra-strong power washer that attached to your garden hose, with a claim that you'd never need to hire a professional power washer for your concrete or siding again. He hooked it up to his hose, turned the water on high, pulled the lever.... and the water barely dribbled out. Nothing happened. At least it made for some great video!
You probably have been burned by a TV offer before. WCPO in Cincinatti recently did a spot on the "Awesome Auger," one of the top products being sold this year. The reporter said the only thing "awesome" about it was the extra charge you might find on your bill once you ordered it. The product was advertised at $19.95. But the "Shipping and Handling" charges totalled $140! Then he proceeded to list all the complaints the Better Business Bureau had received on the product.
Clark just wants you to know that when you see something advertised on a commercial or infomercial, the sales pitch is geared to create a sense of urgency before you come to your senses. ("But wait! There's more!") Know that you can never be sure what you're going to get. If you do buy something, make sure that you have -- in writing -- your right to return the product for a refund. And only pay by credit card so you can dispute the charge if necessary. But the best thing of all? Just say no.
Organic food is something that's not relevant to Clark's life. His wife buys it for herself or the kids, but he's not into this particular food movement. Maybe that's because organic food prices are suffering from massive inflation -- even more so than non-organic grocery items. The New York Times found that while regular bread can be around $1.19, organic can be up to $3.19. Regular eggs may be $1.34-$1.50 versus $4.75-$6.39 for the organic version. Regular milk can be $1.99, while you may pay $3.99-$6.79 for organic milk.
So what can you do to dial back the price? Get your store's in-house brand of organic food instead of buying a brand name. Most retailers in the food business have private label organic food available. You can also try shopping at Wal-Mart. Clark knows the monster mega-retailer is anathema to a lot of green shoppers. But the reality is that they offer better deals on organic food than other places.
There's no doubt that organic food is gaining in popularity. Yet only 3% of food sales in the United States are organic. A whopping 97% of our food dollars still go to non-organic items. People can argue about the health value of organic vs. non-organic, but this is a dollars and cents issue. Right now the dollars you spend for organic make no sense!
Last year, Clark got so upset over the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 vote that effectively legalized price fixing. The decision allowed manufacturers to set the price you pay in a store. Up until that point, retailers charged whatever they wanted for goods they purchased from a manufacturer.
Clark was furious because the decision meant more money out of your pocket. Retailers that competed fiercely on price would no longer have any reason to do so.
At the time, the Supreme Court swore up and down that the ruling would not negatively impact the price of goods for the average consumer. But let's face it -- the 9 justices probably haven't been in a store in years!
The Wall Street Journal now reports that the Supreme Court's ruling did negatively affect the prices we pay at retail. In fact, the ruling has been one contributing factor in the massive inflation run-up -- along with the price of oil.
Price fixing has no place in capitalism, according to Clark. It is the ultimate in cronyism. Congress needs the guts to overturn the ruling.
In the meantime, you've got to practice brand substitution and buy the most-affordable names you can find.
The Financial Times of London reports that over 80% of the wealthiest Americans have begun looking closely at their budgets and seeing what they can cut out. The business for "mys" -- as in, "my therapist," "my personal trainer," "my personal chef," etc. -- has been taking it very hard.
Likewise, over 80% of the wealthiest also said they passed up buying something right now until it went on sale. Over 50% report not buying a big-ticket item that they were planning to purchase.
So why should you care what the wealthiest Americans do or don't do? Simply put, the ripple effect of their spending is significant. It can actually lead to a further slowdown of the economy.
On the other end of the financial spectrum, Aldi is about to open its 1,000th store in the United States. Aldi typically stocks 1,500 items -- instead of the nearly 40,000 carried by a traditional grocery store. That allows them to keep costs low and pass the savings on to consumers.
It's been said that Aldi is the only retailer that Wal-Mart fears. In fact, Wal-Mart is poised to open a wave of small grocery stores to compete with Aldi. The real winners of this battle will be consumers as the 2 try to undercut each other in price.
CLARKONOMICS: The rise in food prices is affecting everyone from consumers to business owners. In the latest twist, McDonald's is contemplating changing the double cheeseburger to a double hamburger with a single slice of cheese because the cost of cheese has skyrocketed!
Dollar stores are feeling pinched too. The 99¢ only chain doesn't know what to do as their margins get squeezed. Will they have to become the $1.29 store or the $1.99 store?
Clark recently bought orange juice for his kids and didn't notice the container went from 64 ozs. to 56 ozs. The packaging hadn't really changed, so it was more of a hidden price increase.
Everywhere we turn -- whether we're business owners or consumers -- we all have to cut corners. Christa's favorite fish sandwich now only has a half-slice of cheese.
The takeaway is that you have to work overtime to be a better shopper in this new economic climate.
New rules governing the safety of children's toys, cribs and more are set to go into effect by Christmas 2009. While parents won't get the benefit of the legislation immediately, there are a couple of free-market solutions that will cover upcoming holiday season purchases later this year. Read on for further details.
Under the new rules, there will be mandatory third-party testing of products for kids up to age 12. That's before the products make it to market. Other provisions include tougher standards for lead in toys -- which was a problem with imports from communist China. Meanwhile, there will finally be whistleblower protection. Previously, those insiders who blew the whistle risked being fired without any compensation whatsoever.
Fines of up to $15 million will be permissible if children do get hurt, whereas before there was essentially no fining permitted at all.
The new rules beg the question -- when should government get involved? If an industry monitors itself, Clark believes government should stay out. But the toy industry did not govern itself. So they brought the heavy hand of government into their world.
No legitimate business gets up in the morning with the intention of harming children. Yet there's a diffusion of responsibility throughout the industry. You have contract factories, final-assembly factories, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and more in the picture. The responsibility for safe toys gets lost in the mix.
But to the credit of the retail world, both Wal-Mart and Target have come out with their own stiff standards that importers and manufacturers have to meet. The Wal-Mart and Target standards will be effective this coming Christmas. Clark loves such free-market initiatives.
CLARKONOMICS: A few weeks ago, Clark explained why a recession is the best time to start a business. Need more proof? Read on.
Have you noticed vacant storefronts as you drive around? The International Council of Shopping Centers now reports the largest historical increase in vacancies. 1 out of every 7 retail spaces in the United States will vacate this year. That creates great opportunity if you want to open a retail location or a restaurant. Landlords need you! And you're in a powerful negotiating position.
If you have an existing business and your lease is coming up for renewal, once again, you have so much negotiating power. But you must be willing to relocate to a shopping center across the street if need be.
And here's a special warning for entrepreneurs: Make sure you get a kick-out clause in your lease. That will protect you should the anchor retailer vacate from a shopping center. Anchor retailers could be a supermarket, a Target, a Wal-Mart or what have you. If they leave, all the ancillary businesses die as traffic drops off. So a kick-out clause allows you to vacate if the big fish goes elsewhere.
Are you facing a penalty for a kick-out clause? Negotiate a lesser penalty. You've got the upper hand.
Years ago, Clark recalls getting a unique call from a man who explained how he haggled at Wal-Mart. Haggling at a chain store that's already turbo cheap? It turns out that idea is now in vogue. America's Research Group reports that two-thirds of Americans say they've haggled in a store during the last 90 days. The Los Angeles Times reports that some chain stores have now given floor employees the authority to accept lower prices, especially on electronics. Many retailers also have matching policies where you can show them a competitor's ad and get the lower price. Clark's not sure if he thinks of that as bargaining. Do you have a great haggling story? Leave a comment.
Have you ever felt down in the dumps and used shopping as a pick me up? Well, now a journal called Psychological Science confirms what we've long heard anecdotally. People do tend to spend more when they feel down. Are you prone to spend money when you're blue? Clark suggests trying to break the cycle by finding a new response. Go for a walk or go to the park if it's a nice day. Clark likes to exercise when he's feeling down. If you have a conditioned response that's bad for you, you've got to work to change it. This touchy feely kind of stuff is more something that Clark's friend Suze Orman would talk about. But you know what? She's 100% right about this stuff.
Purchases you make on the Internet are tax free, right? Wrong! The states are at it again trying to find new sources of tax revenue as we stare down a recession. They've now turned to trying to get the word out that you're legally required to pay sales tax on Internet purchases -- unless, of course, you live in a tax-free state. That's news to most people.
The courts have decided that web merchants are not responsible for collecting taxes unless they have a domicile in the state where the purchaser lives. But you still owe the tax. North Carolina has been aggressive about trying to collect. Some states are even participating in cooperative efforts where they'll rat you out to other states. We're not talking about something you buy for $12 on Amazon; we're talking about something you might buy for $12K online. 25 states now have a line on their income tax forms to collect sales tax on Internet purchases you've made over the past year. Consumers are expected to keep a log of all their e-commerce transactions and then report them!
A recent study in The American Journal of Psychiatry reveals that about 1 in 16 Americans -- some 6% of us -- have compulsive spending habits.
This kind of behavior leads to a momentary rush of adrenaline, but afterward comes the financial hangover. Christa has done a lot in her life to take control of her wayward spending habits. She believes that if you're always buying new clothes, for example, you disrespect the things you already have in your closet. When the shopping bug bites you, try paying attention to the stuff you've already acquired in your life.
On a related note, Clark once owned a house built in 1937. The master bedroom's sole master closet was all of 2 x 1.5 feet in dimension! During those Great Depression years, that was big enough for a middle-class husband and wife. Today, a closet of that size would never work. Some people have so much clothing that they can go for months without wearing the same thing.
Clark believes the best way to tackle compulsive spending is with shock therapy -- you've got to ban yourself from stores! Let's say you're prone to go on a shopping binge when you feel blue. You've got to make sure you don't even get into the car to go to the store or the mall.
Here are some more thoughts about getting compulsive spending under control:
• Only buy non-perishables every 6 weeks and buy your perishables on a weekly basis.
• Sell all belongings that you don't use. Don't buy new things to replace them.
• Freeze your credit cards (literally) if the temptation to shop is too great. Put them on ice in your freezer.
Congrats to our associate producer Joel who recently became a proud new uncle. "Does your nephew have a job yet?" was Clark's first question upon hearing the good news!
If you've looked at the prices of diapers and formula lately, you're apt to start crying like a baby. Many manufacturers have been passing costs on to consumers for the past few months. Now comes word that Procter & Gamble is bumping up prices by as much as 16% on brands like Tide, Ivory, Gillette shaving cream, etc.
That means there's never been a better time to try off-brands or store brands; in many cases, the quality of the product is just as good. For example, there's little difference between cheap and costly shampoos.
In his TV work, Clark once interviewed a professor who chemically analyzed different shampoos and confirmed their sameness. Conditioner, however, is a different story. So if you must blow money, buy a cheap shampoo and splurge on a nice conditioner.
But Clark's message stands: Ignoring store brands is risky for your wallet. You could save between 30% and 60% by going the generic route.
CLARKONOMICS: The latest retail sales figures are in and show the warehouse clubs and discounters including Wal-Mart are booming. On the other hand, Target and mid-priced clothing retailers are not doing so well -- except for maybe Kohl's.
These sales stats highlight a basic fact: We are completely driven by the goal to spend less for whatever we buy. High gas prices have really chilled retail spending.
But there is a silver lining here for those interested in fashion. September should be a month of great deals on fall clothing. This has always been true, but Clark is expecting the deals this coming season to be unreal.
Of course, clothing sales don't mean much to Clark. His usual "Clarkiform" consists of a free station golf shirt, $9 shorts and socks and underwear for about $1 each. He usually aims to have his whole outfit for under $20.
Yes, some listeners may be thriftier than that because they only buy used clothing. But Clark's bias is against used casual clothing for men. He finds it's usually too threadbare for his taste.
Have you seen the new square-shaped packages for fresh milk at Sam's Club, Costco and elsewhere? The new packaging is more compatible with automated equipment, which means far less handling and quicker transportation. The benefit to consumers is fresher milk at cheaper prices.
But The New York Times reports that many shoppers dislike the packaging because it has caused many spills in kitchens across America. Some retailers are offering milk-pouring classes to reverse the consumer bias.
Clark is not the world's most coordinated guy, but even he can pour the new milk cartons without spilling. His 8 year old, however, is a different story. Likewise, Christa doesn't have any problem with spills when she pours milk for her young children. She also feels like she can buy less milk because it lasts longer.
Meanwhile, ice cream maker Blue Bell has a new ad campaign that stresses how they're not reducing the size of their packaging. Many other competitors are shrinking the size yet keeping the same pricing -- so you're getting less for your money.
Starbucks has become the kind of American icon that elicits both very positive and very negative reactions. On the one hand, people hate the company because they homogenized the coffee shop experience. On the other hand, folks like Clark's sister love Starbucks and go to the same location everyday.
While Clark is not a coffee drinker, he likes Starbucks in theory because they have a reputation of treating employees better than most other fast-food chains. Yes, Starbucks is essentially a fast-food chain -- even if you don't think so!
The company's business plan has long focused on aggressive expansion. Sometimes they've opened multiple locations within close proximity in high-traffic areas. The goal has been to destroy weaker coffee shop chains and indie shops.
Unfortunately, the expansion proved a bit too extreme. Neighboring locations cannibalized each other's customers and saw a swift drop in sales when the economy contracted.
Now Starbucks is closing around 600 stores and laying off several hundred people.
Also factoring into the Starbucks squeeze is competition the chain is facing from McDonald's introduction of cheaper high-end coffees.
But Clark thinks the latest Starbucks news marks the end of an era. Previously, we as Americans didn't care about our guilty little pleasures. We just charged the plastic and didn't worry about how we'd pay for it down the road. Now we're worried.
Kroger used to be considered an overpriced has-been by a lot of industry analysts in the grocery world. But they've proven more resilient than anyone thought.
The nation's second-largest grocer now is experimenting regionally with a couple of new tweaks at their Ralphs-branded locations.
First, they're limiting the use and redemption of coupons. They've instead taken the items that people commonly comparison shop and lowered the prices to compete with Wal-Mart and other cheaper players.
Second, Ralphs is doing a rewards card program that's in the mold of frequent flyer miles. If you sign up and agree to have your purchases tracked, you can earn vouchers to shop for free groceries.
If these regional tests prove successful, they may be rolled out nationwide.
The grocery industry is in the most intense time of experimentation that Clark can remember. During our last recession, there was not the fierce competition that we have today with the warehouse clubs, Wal-Mart, Fresh & Easy and more. That means your ability to stretch your food dollar is the best it's ever been!
We're sad to report that we may soon have another addition to the graveyard.
This is an unfolding story involving Clark's beloved Steve and Barry's. This innovative clothing retailer has been running an $8.98 or less promo on hip, fashionable threads for several months now.
Steve and Barry's got popular on the strength of their cheap prices and celebrity fashion lines. But they expanded too quickly throughout the United States, which may partly account for their impending failure. The Wall Street Journal and other sources report a bankruptcy announcement may come within a week.
Clark thinks it's a shame.
They were one of the only viable options for cheap and ultra hip sneakers. Steve and Barry's Starbury sneakers -- the signature shoe from NBA player Stephon Marbury -- sold for a mere $14.98. Compare that to upwards of $200 for a pair of Air Jordans!
Clark has long been a big advocate of reducing his electric bill by using compact fluorescent lights in his home. It used to be that Clark installed CFLs in overhead fixtures and his wife put traditional bulbs in all the lamps. But now they're doing almost all CFLs through the house.
They've also done a lot of retrofitting with attic insulation, duct work improvements and weather-stripping around windows and doors. Their energy bill has fallen by about 40%, though complete payback is still several years away.
CFLs are a no-brainer in terms of savings. They cost about $1.10/bulb at the warehouse clubs -- which is still 4 times as much as a traditional bulb. Yet you may save up to $60 over the life of a CFL.
One of the biggest impediments to widespread CFL adoption has been the environmental angle. They're seen as a hazard by some because CFLs contain small amounts of mercury.
He is, however, a bit surprised that Wal-Mart or Sam's Club didn't beat Home Depot to the punch. But Home Depot has so many stores that most Americans live within 10 minutes of one, which makes recycling easy.
As Clark has said before, CFLs are just a transitional technology before LEDs (light-emitting diodes) become commonplace in the average American home. LEDs are already showing up in the homes of the ultra rich.
Clark is one of those people who hates going to the supermarket. He's especially bored by the idea of making a grocery list every week. That's where a new device available from Ikan.net can help.
The penny-pincher recently ran out of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! while fixing a bagel for his son at home. If he had the Ikan, he could have used it to scan the barcode on the package. It would then be stored on a list that could be printed out before he went to the supermarket.
But the Ikan is capable of more than just compiling a shopping list. The real payoff comes in the Ikan's ability to electronically send your list to participating supermarket chains in about 10 states. The grocer can then either pull your order and have it ready for you, or deliver it straight to your home.
Several years back, there was a company that Clark's wife loved called Web Van. This startup in the home grocery delivery business wound up blowing through billions of dollars and eventually failed. Peapod is a likeminded company that had some level of success in the market, and they've now partnered with Ikan.
Clark often talks about money-saving grocery strategies like those found at CouponMom.com. But another way to save money is to not go to the store and subject yourself to the lure of impulse purchases. That's where Ikan helps. You might just reduce your bill and your weekly calorie count too!
The Ikan normally sells for $399, but a portion of their stock is available for $99 for a limited time. (Editor's note: Pricing accurate as of 06/20/08.)
The attorney general of the state of New York has gone after CVS and Rite-Aid for repeatedly selling expired goods on their shelves, including OTC medications. This has long been a problem in retail, but this is perhaps the first time that it has ever resulted in a lawsuit.
In 2005, Clark himself found OTC medications that were 5 years past their expiration dates on the shelf of a third chain drugstore. He was so fired up that he brought it to the manager's attention. Unfortunately, the manger was underwhelmed by Clark's complaint and didn't seem to care.
Recently while in a warehouse club, Clark discovered expired soft drinks on the shelf. He found an employee and showed them the items. But when he came back a week later, they were still there.
Clark doesn't believe there's any conspiracy to sell us spoiled food. But you must be your own police officer and check expiration dates before you make a purchase.
In fact, the penny-pinching guru describes himself as "obsessive compulsive" when it comes to checking dates. He routinely digs around on the shelves to get the latest possible date on milk and medications.
One caveat: It's difficult to tell if the date is a "marketing expiration date" or the real deal. Some drug makers put an early date on their products to get you to throw them out and buy more.
One of the greatest marketing successes of all time has been American Airlines' Advantage Program. This was practically the genesis of the frequent flyer model that's been adopted across the travel business.
However, most other industries have been slow to try out similar loyalty programs. The office supply superstores are among those that actually have experimented with them. Now Best Buy is really stepping it up with its own new program in the world of electronics retailing.
Best Buy has long had its Reward Zone program, but now the company has introduced Premier Silver member status. Customers who make purchases that exceed $2,500 in a calendar year are automatically enrolled. Premier Silver members get access to a special call center, no restocking fees, a price-matching policy and other perks.
This seems to be mostly carrot and no stick, especially when compared to the banking industry's use of profitability index scores to determine whether they'll treat you right as a customer or not.
Consider this: When your call goes into a banking call center, your "score" pops up on a screen before you speak to the rep. There's also typically a color-coded identifier that accompanies it.
"Green" means do whatever it takes to make the customer happy; "yellow" means it's up to the rep's discretion whether to help you or not; and "red" means don't help this customer under any circumstance.
For many years, people were buying more branded goods than store brands. But that's reversed now as consumers seek to stretch their dollars.
Each November, Clark does a toy test with children in his TV work to help parents sort through all the holiday choices. During a recent test, Target and Wal-Mart branded toys were almost more popular than the name brands.
Today you can buy store brands in most categories -- food, toys, household goods, etc. The warehouse clubs also push their own private labels. Sam's Club has Member's Mark; Costco has Kirkland Signature; and BJ's has Berkley & Jensen, among others. When it comes to OTC drugs, Clark exclusively buys store brands no matter where he's shopping.
So don't rely on emotions and reach for the brand name. Make the decision based on dollars and go for the store brand. And if you buy a store-branded food item and don't like it, take it back and they'll likely refund your money.
It's no secret that Wal-Mart has a horrible reputation in the public eye. But the mega-retailer recently did something great that they're keeping very quiet.
Back in February, Wal-Mart secretly told toy suppliers that they would have to meet strict new standards for toy safety during the coming Christmas season. The new Wal-Mart standards govern how much lead toys can contain, what chemicals can be used in manufacturing and more. Toys"R"Us and Target have since adopted similar standards.
The toy safety issue really boiled over last Christmas with lead showing up in children's trinkets. Parents refused to buy certain items and Wal-Mart -- as the nation's biggest toy seller -- really suffered because of it.
So Clark applauds the company's new move – even though it's clearly profit-driven.
These standards should have come from our politicians. But they're too busy drinking "Inside the Beltway" Kool-Aid, and have lost touch with the people amid all their bureaucratic wrangling.
There's a sort of anarchy with retailers dictating standards to the manufacturers. Yet Wal-Mart, Target and Toys"R"Us account for more than half of all toys sales in our country. So the manufacturers will have to fall into line.
CLARKONOMICS: For the last 10 years, electronics manufacturers have had great success with getting marketers to convince you to go up-market with your purchase. But today, electronics manufacturers realize that consumers are pinched and they're now fighting just to get a sale -- forget about the up-sale.
Sales of flat screens are softening and the price is dropping. For example, Sony is coming out with a new line of HDTVs that will be significantly cheaper than Sonys have been. Historically, Sony has used the cachet of its name to charge higher prices. But that's going to be changing. They won't be as cheap as a Vizio, but they'll almost be there.
The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reports that camera makers are hitting key price figures ($89-$109 instead of $300) to drum up sales. Anything below $200 is a magic figure in electronics that usually invites men to make impulse purchases.
When August comes around, computers will be the cheapest they've ever been. Look for laptops around $300. The Intel folks have a new processor called the Atom that should routinely help yield prices in the $200s.
So you may not need to spend big bucks on electronics. Look around and see what you can get for under the $200 mark. There may be no reason to go above it.
The furniture business has been hurt greatly by the housing slump. As a result, great opportunity exists at going out of business (GOB) sales and also among some high-end furniture retailers.
But there is a hazard here. GOB sales are often run by third party operators that come in and the pay the owner for inventory. The GOB operator then brings in a wide assortment of junk furniture for the sale. So you have to know a retailer's typical inventory before you buy anything thinking it's a deal.
Be sure to pay with a real credit card if you plan on taking delivery later. Do not use cash and do not use a fake piece of trash Visa or MasterCard debit card. With a credit card, you have 60 days from the transaction to enter a dispute if you never get your furniture.
In related news, summer is moving season -- beware of scam movers! The moving industry has been a haven for mob-backed businesses that may hold your possessions hostage and demand a ransom!
Be safe and find a legitimately certified mover at Moving.org. Also, be sure to get a "binding estimate," which means that you won't be hit with more fees down the road. It's not enough if your contract just says "estimate;" it must say "binding estimate."
Because of outdated laws, your possessions will only be insured at a rate of 60 cents per pound. So you should think about buying replacement value coverage in the event your belongings become lost, stolen or broken.
Planning on renting a truck and making a move yourself? There are huge price differences throughout the month. If possible, don't rent at the end or beginning of a month and avoid the weekends.
Clark has been out of style forever and usually has no idea about what's going on in popular culture. But right now, he's actually in vogue because so many people are concerned about being extra thrifty!
If you pick up any general interest magazine, you'll probably see articles on shopping on a budget or frugal fashion. Newspapers are filled with stories about saving money on everyday purchases. In fact, the media blitz is so intense that people are now getting tired of stories about high gas prices.
Some sectors of the economy are actually benefiting from people's wallets getting pinched. Thrift stores are one example.
Clark is fond of picking up dress clothes at thrift shops. They're usually in great shape because few men dress up for work anymore. Instead, today's standard office outfit usually includes khaki pants and a golf shirt. On the other hand, Clark typically won't buy casual clothing at a thrift shop because he finds it's usually too threadbare.
For women, there's a new gold standard for saving on clothing: Steve and Barry's. This retailer is selling all clothing for $8.98 or less for a limited time only. They even have fashion lines from famous folks such as actress Sarah Jessica Parker, tennis star Venus Williams and others. (Editor's note: This retailer has since gone out of business!)
Clark has been excited for years about Steve and Barry's because of their Starbury shoe line. These shoes sell for between $8 and $15. Starburys are almost solely responsible for breaking the ultra expensive Air Jordan stranglehold on the feet and hearts of low income neighborhoods.
The average Wal-Mart Supercenter or SuperTarget eats up about 200,000 square feet and some 20 acres of land. That's a far cry from the tiny "5 and dime" stores of yesteryear. But that's been the trend in most of retail: Bigger is better, as the saying goes.
However, the opposite is now true. Retailers have begun looking at smaller floor plans as people rebel against the "supercenter" mentality. Some retailers have even experimented with putting smaller convenience stores outside the big stores -- to appeal to the shopper who just wants to be in and out.
Aldi and Trader Joe's are 2 smaller-sized food stores that are opening like mad. They're each about one-fifteenth the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter or a SuperTarget, and about a quarter the size of a modern supermarket.
Wal-Mart is now opening its own smaller food stores called Marketside that will be the size of an Aldi. One of the Marketside ad taglines is "a passion for fresh and delicious food," which sounds a lot like regional player Fresh Market.
The reality is that smaller stores free up land; offer deeper market penetration; and help mega-retailers like Wal-Mart lose the stigma of being big, soulless holes in a neighborhood.
Convenience through smaller size, married to low prices, is the next wave in food markets. The bigger and better era is over!
It's no secret that Clark's executive producer Christa has found a lot of excitement in clothes shopping over the years. Recently she's been trying to change her spendthrift behavior and has detailed the transformation on her blog.
While she's been doing a much better job at saving lately, the old Christa came out with a vengeance when a new H&M opened in the Atlanta area. After dropping her kids at school, Christa got in a queue with hundreds of frenzied woman (and 2 men) hours before the store officially opened its doors. The first 250 people in line received H&M gift cards that had to be scratched off to reveal between $10 and $250 worth of free clothing. The first 250 people also received a free tote bag, umbrella and T-shirt. Christa's gift card turned out to be for $75, while 5 people in line who camped out overnight only got $10 each!
Clark knew she'd go overboard with her spending at this event, and she did…by $93! Christa vows that she's going to return a lot of the items she got, but no one on the staff believes her. Her finds included a couple of "nice" T-shirts for $12; linen pants for $25; and a beautiful cocktail dress for $39, among other things.
H&M is not necessarily a well-known store in the United States, but it's immensely popular in Europe. It's like their GAP, with fashion forward styles that trend a little younger and are fairly inexpensive.
When Clark's eldest daughter was 13, he took her on a father-and-daughter trip to England when he spied a $180 roundtrip fare. But he actually lost money because all she wanted to do was go from one H&M to another on London's Oxford Street. The music was deafening at each location and Clark was saddled with at least 14 shopping bags. Security at each location would eye him suspiciously as he entered the store!
CLARKONOMICS: Retailers and restaurants are both taking it on the chin in today's economy. We're "over-stored" in America with the square footage of retail space exceeding the population count. It's a symptom of the "shop 'til you drop" mentality. Fortunately, Clark thinks we're finally experiencing a shift in this kind of thinking.
Restaurateurs, meanwhile, have always had a tough time even in the best of economies. But now people aren't eating out as much, or they're trading down in meals, or they're using coupons.
So what's the takeaway for you? Beware if you're thinking about giving someone a gift card. The store or restaurant may not be there when they go to redeem it! This is a good year to give people cash or an actual gift because of these dangers. You might also want to check out Clark's no-gift-card certificate. Then again, the upside of not being able to redeem a restaurant gift card is that you'll consume 0 calories!
Years ago, Clark recalls getting a unique call from a man who explained how he haggled at Wal-Mart. Haggling at a chain store that's already turbo cheap? It turns out that idea is now in vogue. America's Research Group reports that two-thirds of Americans say they've haggled in a store during the last 90 days. The Los Angeles Times reports that some chain stores have now given floor employees the authority to accept lower prices, especially on electronics. Many retailers also have matching policies where you can show them a competitor's ad and get the lower price. Clark's not sure if he thinks of that as bargaining. Do you have a great haggling story? Let us know with our new commenting feature!
If you've been to the supermarket lately, you've probably gotten serious sticker shock. Prices are up the most they've been in 17 years; for example, staples like milk and eggs are each up 25%. So what can you do to cope with the price increases? For starters, you may want to shop at Aldi. This hard discounter does very little advertising, has small stores and a limited selection with a lot of house brands. But it's very cheap. Estimates suggest you can reduce your usual grocery costs by 40% when shopping at Aldi.
Wal-Mart comes in at a close second. The Wall Street Journal finds that Wal-Mart can be up to 30% cheaper than the traditional major supermarket chains. But beware that a major customer satisfaction index recently gave it a horrible score when it comes to the shopping experience. More customer-friendly yet cheap retailers you may want to visit include Trader Joe's and Fresh & Easy. Finally, be sure to check out CouponMom.com for access to a variety of coupons. Remember, every dollar you save at the market is an after-tax dollar that stays in your pocket.
The book business has been through such tumult. Clark's books have been available via warehouses clubs, independent bookshops and chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders. An indie bookshop owner once yanked a title of his off the shelf when he did a book signing at a Sam's Club. In her mind, Clark was being unsupportive of indie booksellers in an era when they had fierce competition from the chains.
But what goes around comes around. Now Barnes & Noble and Borders are having a tough time because they can't compete with the warehouse clubs, online retailers and discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. So it's the chains that now are in a squeeze play. The indie booksellers who have survived figured out how to offer great customer service and cater to special niche audiences. Where is the room for the chains in the middle market? No one knows. Wouldn't it be ironic if the way people end up buying books again is at indie stores, warehouse clubs or online?
Warehouse clubs are not like normal book stores. They offer a fraction of the selection an indie retailer might have, but they sell their stock extra cheap. A new title from a well-respected author might only get a short run in the inventory. Yet one third of people bought a book at a discount store just last year. The Washington Post reports many authors now do book signings at Costco rather than at Barnes & Noble or Borders. Clark is on Borders' e-mail list and they're getting more and more desperate with the deals they send him. If you're an indie bookshop, it's got to be sweet revenge to see the chains struggling.
The World Bank estimates that the cost of food is up 83% over 3 years! Not all of this increase has translated into U.S. supermarkets yet. At the same time, half of all the things we import now come from the Third World where inflation is rising. Foreign inflation will come back to bite us in the form of higher prices on imported goods. So we as consumers have to make a decision between things we'd like to have and things we need to have. In the former category, you have things like electronics and clothing. It might be a good time to take a step back from buying. Fashion-forward retailer Target has just reported rotten sales for March, so that's a sign that some shoppers have already begun dialing back. Meanwhile, food falls into the latter category of things we need to have. So for food items, try brand substitution or buying the store brands at the market.
With cell phones becoming so commonplace, the cell carriers are wondering where to get their next million customers. Clark thinks they may tap the preschool market after they get done with the elementary school kids! In reality, they're focused on taking things that have become popular overseas and bringing them here.
Throughout Asia, you can go up to a restaurant that you don't know anything about; hold your phone up to the window; and photograph a barcode of sorts. That will bring up customer reviews and other information about the restaurant on your handset. The San Francisco Chronicle reports a similar service has now launched in the Golden Gate City. Look for it to become more widespread during the next 18 months to 2 years.
This business model won't just apply to restaurants. Let's say you're reading a magazine. There's an ad for a new release from your favorite musical artist. You'll soon be able to hold your phone up to a barcode on the page and cue up a sample of the artist's latest music. You'll also be able to click a button and purchase their new album. The cell carriers will, of course, get a cut of any e-commerce transactions.
Ultimately, you'll be surfing the web on your cell phone -- if you don't already do so. Clark recently got a Sprint PPC 6800 when his old cell broke. It turns out the PPC is the first cell phone to surf the web at high speeds like DSL or cable modem. When the Crackberry first came out, almost no one used it. Today 14 million Americans are Crackberry addicts. So the web will be huge on cell phones, and the barcode business model will be a part of the coming revolution.
About 2 years ago, a listener informed Clark that moisture degrades shaving blades. So Clark went on his now-famous kick where he used a single 17-cent razor and made it last 1 year by drying it after every use. Well, now comes word that Gillette is marketing a 5-blade razor for women called the Venus Embrace. Once you get past 2 or 3 blades, are you actually getting a closer shave? Not really. The Venus Embrace just allows women to be ripped off just like men in the razor blade aisle! So ladies, if you want to overpay for the Gillette blade at least make it last by drying it off after each use. That way they'll rip you off less frequently.
Clark recently opened a drawer under his sink and found two 55-count bags of Schick double-edged razors. One bag was open and he had 51 shavers left, while the other was completely sealed. Using one blade a year, Clark has calculated that he'd have to go past the century mark in age to use up the 55-count pack that's already open! He'd have to live to be 158 years old to use both packs in their entirety! But he doesn't expect to live that long, so Clark will be donating the unopened pack to a shelter where he and his wife volunteer.
Need another reason why gift cards stink? Back in June, Clark was given a $25 gift certificate to an ice-cream store for his birthday. When he recently went to redeem it, the store was out of business! That's the big risk with gift cards. Similarly, Sharper Image has announced they won't be honoring gift cards as they re-organize through bankruptcy proceedings. Retail and restaurants are very sensitive to the economic slowdown, so you may see these scenarios play out elsewhere.
Mid-priced eateries are under severe pressure trying to maintain the volume of business. Several chains have begun putting glossy ads in the newspaper. BOGO offers on meals are unusual in the mid-priced sector. This trend tells Clark that the restaurant sector may face some door closures. So you may want to rethink buying that gift card at an eatery. When it comes to retailers, try to use existing gift cards before they're no good any longer. Clark and Lane have a bag full of them and are trying to use them before total depreciation.
Meanwhile, financial writer Pamela Yip has discovered that using a debit card to rent a car opens you up to a whole world of hurt. The rental counter will pull a credit report on you and drastically lower your score. Why? They're protecting themselves against auto thieves that love to use debit cards as a low-risk method to get rentals to steal. Use your real credit card instead!
Clark recently told you how Wal-Mart ranked as the worst retailer and the worst grocer when it comes to customer satisfaction, according to the latest ACSI survey. The irony is that people still shop there in huge numbers despite all the complaints. But that may not always be the case.
Before Wal-Mart was the largest retailer in the world, that title was held by Sears and then by Kmart. Both Sears and Kmart are today owned by Sears Holdings, which has now reported that its profits are down by nearly 50%. Sears Holdings' sales are declining rapidly, while cash on hand has dropped from $4 billion a year ago to $1.5 billion now. The marketplace spoke and this is the result.
The Wal-Mart haters have to realize that the marketplace will speak again if Wal-Mart doesn't improve its customer experience. Look at any industry. In the car field, GM used to own this country. Today, they're struggling to survive because they had a tin ear to the customer. The message is clear: If somebody doesn't take care of you, you must use your feet and take care of yourself by taking your business elsewhere.
As a parent, Clark is sick over the fact that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is not doing its job of ensuring that toys are made and sold in a safe manner. CPSC honcho Nancy Nord instead sees her job as protecting manufacturers who have unsafe products on the market. Congress recently gave her the authority to ban lead-filled toys and children's trinkets. But she refused to do so and continues to allow the toys to be sold. If you have young girls, you need to be especially cautious about cheap jewelry and trinkets that are made to look like real silver. Clark advises parents to quietly dispose of these potentially lead-filled trinkets.
It's just insane that Nord has worked to put kids in harm's way in order to protect manufacturers. Clark is beyond anger over her activities; at this point, he's just deeply saddened. The whole thing becomes even more incomprehensible when you consider that Nord is a mother herself. The policy on her watch has been to keep things hush-hush when there's an unsafe product out there. Manufacturers get to sell off their dangerous inventory with the understanding that they'll have to comply with safety standards in future production. Visit SafeKids.org for the latest news. There is no cop on the beat, so you've got to be extra vigilant.
Clark sometimes gives advice on air that he doesn't take -- and then he gets hit with the consequences. Here's an example of his self-proclaimed financial stupidity: Clark predicted that there would be a big push during the Christmas shopping season for hi-def DVD players, either Sony's Blu-ray or Toshiba's HD DVD. The two formats were in a war and he advised consumers to stay out on the sidelines until the marketplace sorted things out. But then he turned around and got a steal of a deal on a Toshiba HD DVD player. Clark jumped because the deal included the player and 5 free movies. He and his wife both loved the picture quality from their HD DVD player.
But now Blu-ray has won the format war, so Clark is stuck with a largely worthless piece of equipment. Now he'll have to wait until the studios put their remaining HD DVD titles on quadruple markdown clearance and snatch them up. As for you, this coming Christmas will be a good time to buy a Blu-ray player or a Sony PlayStation 3, which features built-in Blu-ray. If you're in the same boat as Clark with his dinosaur player, you can also get an HD up-convert DVD player that uses computer technology to simulate a hi-def picture from your existing standard-def DVDs. Clark and his family watched the third Indiana Jones flick on an up-convert and it looked great.
There are spin-off problems in the home improvement and furniture retail industries anytime we move into a housing recession. It's important to remember that all furniture is local. There are very few true national retailers, save perhaps for Ethan Allen. Levitz is liquidating, and another big regional player -- Wickes Furniture -- is up for auction in bankruptcy. For every regional chain that fails, there will be hundreds of ma-and-pa furniture stores that don't make it.
So why does this matter to you? A lot of people pay deposits for furniture that they haven't taken delivery of yet. If you pay with cash, check or debit card, your money is gone if the retailer fails. In his TV work, Clark has done at least 10 stories standing in front of vacant furniture stores with the camera panning from empty wall to empty wall. It's always the same story: Clark interviews some poor soul who talks about how much money they lost on deposit.
There are only two ways to buy furniture. The first is by seeing it, buying it and taking it home. The other way is to pay via your credit card. Beware if you get past the 6-week mark and the furniture still has not been received. Make sure you file a dispute with your credit card company by the 55th day. A credit card is no better than cash if you go past 60 days without filing a dispute. The dispute will take months to process and really just helps you preserve your rights under the law. You can later release a dispute if your furniture arrives. Some people opt for in-store financing, which is a third gray area. You should have the same rights, in theory, as with a major credit card, but the in-store financing creditors are a hassle to deal with if a furniture store goes bust.
Clark has been a longtime advocate of nurse-in-a-box practices, but they're not doing well financially. Several have actually had to close their doors. The idea is still being germinated and needs time to be perfected. Walgreen's and CVS don't care if these in-store practices are lucrative or not; they just like that people are more likely to fill prescriptions inside their stores when there's a nurse practitioner present. Now Wal-Mart is starting a new initiative that has doctors upset because they're aligning with medical centers around the country for new nurse-in-a-box practices. The Wal-Mart facilities will refer patients out to the medical centers if someone is too ill to be seen in-store. Wal-Mart is also partnering with one urgent care chain owned by AOL's Steve Case in a couple hundred markets.
The nurse-in-a-box trend provides an advantage to the American people that's not being discussed: More than half of the clients are uninsured. That means your neighborhood nurse-in-a-box helps de-clutter the emergency room at your local hospital, allowing people with real medical emergencies to be seen faster. This pressure valve release is all to the good, according to Clark. He knows doctors will be alarmist about somebody dying at a nurse-in-a-box. But medicine involves educated hunches -- it is part art, part science. It's just as ridiculous to expect perfection from doctors as it is to expect it from a nurse practitioner. One out of every 6 dollars goes to medical care in our economy. That's by far the highest in the world. Nurse-in-a-boxes will not be the solution to what ails healthcare, but they will relieve some of the pressure on the system.
CLARKONOMICS: Mid-priced and high-end retailers have been reporting terrible January sales figures. This trend was not expected when you consider that sales of gift cards were slightly up during the holidays. The only retailers who made out OK were the deep discounters and warehouse clubs. Macy's has just announced they're going to be cutting more than 2,000 jobs amid their January sales decline of 7 percent. When you factor in inflation, the mega-retailer has fallen off a cliff. Part of the problem has been the company's corporate arrogance. They decided all their goods had to be self-branded and got rid of their beloved Marshall Field's imprint (and a lot of warm, fuzzy customer goodwill in the process).
This downward trend in retail means there are going to be deals in the mass affluent market (Coach, Tiffany, etc.) and at mid-priced clothing retailers. One area where you won't find bargains is in the world of flat-screen TVs. There's just too much demand still. Prices in some cases are higher than they were in October. Meanwhile, the Wii still is in short supply. The Wii is allowing nursing homes to have far more activities than they could previously, thanks to its virtual simulation of physical activities.
Wal-Mart was met with so much hostility and skepticism when they launched their $4 prescription plan. People thought they had ulterior motives, but the monster retailer really just wanted to build traffic. Wal-Mart didn't originate the cheap drug business model -- Kmart was already offering a 3-month supply for $15 -- but so far they've been the most successful with it. Everyone in the market has had to respond to Wal-Mart's challenge with their own discount prescription drug plan; regional supermarket chain Publix has even made some antibiotics free!
Now Kroger, the nation's largest supermarket chain, is expanding its trial $4 prescription plan to select markets in Kentucky, Kansas, Utah, Nevada, Georgia and Texas. They're also offering birth control for $9/month. Most doctors are clueless about prescription prices. They're wooed by Big Pharma reps coming in with free food and other swag, and they write prescriptions accordingly. Consumers now have the power to take control of the prescription pad at their doctor's office. So use the power the market affords you to protect your wallet! Before you leave your doctor's office, call the pharmacy and find out if the drug you need can be substituted with a generic. Have the doctor change the script if need be. Take the control back. It's your body and your wallet.
Longtime listeners know that Clark despises the gift card market. The only exception to this rule is when you get more than what you pay for from a retailer or merchant. Examples of this include getting a $125 gift card for $100 or getting bonus services thrown in during the purchase. Business Week recently ran a story that reinforced why retailers push gift cards so hard. It's like stealing money without a gun; they know a large percent of the cards won't ever be redeemed. You may have heard that Home Depot holds more than $100 million in unredeemed gift cards. But now Business Week has discovered that Best Buy is sitting on a whopping $500 million in outstanding gift card revenue!
States are now wising up and enacting laws that require retailers to turn over unredeemed gift card money after a certain period of time. If people go to redeem the card, they'll have to get their money back from the state. Clark recently was in Austin, Texas, visiting his affiliate station KLBJ-AM. There he spoke to a member of the state legislature who told him Texas enacted its own law after hearing one of Clark's gift card rants. The worst kinds of gift cards are the ones issued by banks, which come with a ton of fees. The federal regulators have not put any rules on the banks as of yet. That alone tells you who they work for -- and it's not you and me.
Many people feel Clark doesn't give enough emphasis on his show to the environment. They say he's too concerned with one kind of green (money) and not the other sort. So here's a story for all those folks. Clorox is introducing a new line of products called Green Works. The Sierra Club will even be branding these products with its own seal of approval like Good Housekeeping! The San Francisco Chronicle reports that only 1.3 percent of our dollars spent on cleaning products go to green brands. But this will probably grow in the years to come as prices drop. Think about organic food. It grew from a niche market to a more mainstream one as price went down. Meanwhile, Clark's executive producer Christa suggests using white vinegar and water as a home-made green cleaning solution.
One of Clark's most recent polls was about coupons and how you get them. Clark is serious about the benefits of coupons and was surprised when the second most popular answer was that you don't use them. But the good news is that most people do use them, and the majority of you still get them the old-fashioned way through newspapers. The least popular method of getting them, according to the poll, was through your cell phone. You may recall that Clark recently talked about a company called CellFire.com that delivers coupons to your handset. Clark tried this service and it kept draining his battery, so he had to delete it. He also recently spoke to coupon guru Stephanie Nelson and she said she's a big fan of the color coupon inserts in the newspapers too. Clark really means it about coupons. He clips them and keeps them in his wallet for later use. While he's not coupon obsessed like some people, he thinks they can make a big difference in your life if your budget is pinched. You can save tax-free money by taking a few minutes to clip and organize them. It's so easy. Meanwhile, what would you do if you got $5,000 free and clear? That's the subject of another one of Clark's polls. Be sure to vote today!
The holiday shopping season was worse than expected by retail. Circuit City sales dropped 10 percent in December, and that's in the hot realm of electronics. The flip side to this story is that now there are great deals out there in the retail world. January is the sweetest month of the year to look for bargains. Clark was recently in a discount store when he saw bags of bows that were originally $2.99 marked down to 9 cents! So he bought 9 packs for 81 cents and now has 270 bows for years to come!
Clothing is one sector where you can find some real deals. Retailers are always looking 1 season ahead. Last week, Clark bought a lambskin leather jacket on clearance for $59. If he had bought it in the fall, it would have cost more than twice as much. So Clark's rule of thumb is to follow the calendar. On the first day of winter, winter clothing goes on clearance. On the first day of spring, spring clothes go on sale, etc. One caveat: Do not buy back-to-school clothes for your kids before they get back to school. The retailers try to trick you with non-sale sales in the weeks before September. Speaking of school, Clark once saw 20 pens for 20 cents after the kidlets returned. At a penny a pen, you better believe he stocked up!
Food prices are skyrocketing -- as much as 6 percent year over year. Most of us aren't getting pay raises every year to keep up. For quite a while, we had been in a golden era of supermarket purchasing power. Prices were actually going down. That was partly because Wal-Mart entered the grocery biz and cut prices by about 20 percent vs. the traditional chains. Then there's also been more efficiency on the farms, plus the availability of imported produce. But now we're in for a rude awakening with inflation at the source and the cost of transportation (price per barrel of oil) going up. So what can you do? Try carefully planning your shopping. For example, Stephanie Nelson (aka Coupon Mom) tells people to stock up on non-perishables only when they're on sale. Don't buy them when they're at full price. As the name of Nelson's website suggests, she also offers a ton of coupons. Clark has a sister-in-law who is also a noteworthy shopper. She can take care of food needs for a month with a week's worth of money. But if all the planning sounds like too much work, Clark just tells people to do their grocery shopping at Wal-Mart or Aldi. Here's another tip: Practice product/brand substitution. For example, buy the store brand instead of the name brand, or buy grapes if they're on sale instead of strawberries at full price.
Over the summer, Clark mentioned a service for airline customers called Yapta.com. Yapta lets you know if you're eligible for a refund or credit if airfare drops after you've made a purchase. Now that same idea is being applied to the world of retail. Many stores offer a price-protection policy. So if you buy something and the price drops within 30 days, the retailer may give you a refund. But who's really combing over circulars and online ads after you've made your purchase? Enter the magic of the Internet. There are a couple of free, ad-supported websites that will do it for you! They include RefundPlease.com and PriceProtectr.com. You simply enter the make and model of what you bought and they'll send you an e-mail if the price drops. PriceProtectr.com claims to have saved consumers more than $500,000, while RefundPlease.com says its savings are more in the $100,000 range.
Just the other day Clark was talking about Bill Me Later, a company that gives you an alternative to doing online transactions via the credit card cartels. The Wall Street Journal now reports that $1 in every $7 is being processed online through an alternative payment method. Clark has now learned that Bill Me Later, PayPal Checkout and Google Checkout are even better than he originally thought. All 3 are now offering extra incentives to get you to use them instead of your traditional credit cards. PayPal is offering a 20 percent cash-back discount, capped at $50. Not to be outdone, Bill Me Later has since started offering free shipping up to $20, and a no payment for 90 days policy at participating merchants. Google Checkout is also offering free shipping. Clark likes Bill Me Later best because they completely assume the role of a credit card and cut the usual Visa and MasterCard suspects out of the picture. That means increased benefit to consumers and merchants alike.
When you give someone a gift, do you think it's OK for them to re-gift it or sell it online? U.S. News and World Report says that 70 percent of people think it's acceptable. Some 50 percent admitted to actually doing this. Clark believes there's nothing wrong with re-gifting or selling a gift if you don't want it. But be careful; he once actually re-gifted something back to the initial giver! So make sure you know who gave it to you before you go giving it back to them. When it comes to doing a return, retailers may require you to have a gift receipt because they're trying to crack down on internal theft rings. So when you give a gift, try taping the gift receipt to the gift itself -- not just to the wrapping paper. Clark's key rule about doing returns is do not go back to the stores until the first week of January. The return lines are maddening and the merchandise is actually pricey between Christmas and Jan. 1.
Do you often shop online? If so, you may see an option when you're checking out called Bill Me Later. This Baltimore-based company allows you to shop online without divulging your credit card information to every vendor. It's fast becoming the friend of merchants and customers alike, while Visa, MasterCard and the other traditional cartels grow to despise it. With Bill Me Later, you simply enter the last four digits of your Social Security number and you either get instant approval or you're denied. This is a more secure method to shop online. The other advantage is that Bill Me Later sometimes offers extended payment times at no interest. In addition, this is a money saver for businesses too. Merchants pay a lower fee per transaction than they would to process a normal credit card transaction. So Bill Me Later is a win/win situation for both consumers and businesses.
Did you know that more than $1 in $4 spent on gift cards goes unredeemed? That's money that just slips through our fingers. It also explains why businesses push gift cards so much. The Safeway supermarket chain has a subsidiary business that sells gift card displays to drug stores and even to Safeway's archrival Kroger. These displays offer one-stop shopping with gift cards from hundreds of different retailers. This is a highly profitable business all around. For every sale, the point-of-purchase retailer gets a cut, Safeway gets a cut and the point-of-redemption business gets a cut too. Some businesses are making more profit on gift cards than anything else they do.
Clark generally hates gift cards, but he will buy the ones where you pay a set amount and get a card that has added value. You sacrifice the flexibility of your dollar, but you get more than you paid for. These kinds of "bonus" gift cards were pioneered by restaurants, and have since been picked up on by spas and some theme parks. Clark's family has a 1 gallon plastic baggie for all the gift cards they've received from people. They always make sure to check the bag before they go out to dinner or to a store. Now there's even a website called LeverageCard.com that allows you to manage your gift cards online. In summary, Clark still thinks gift cards stink. His advice is to just give cash instead. Need a little help doing so this season? Clark has come up with a cash-only gift card for your gifting pleasure!
A week or two ago, Clark gave listeners advice on how to draw up a holiday budget. But what if you need some help drawing up your wish list? WalMart.com now allows kids (or adults) to set up a holiday shopping list online and e-mail it to relatives. There are even animated elves named Wally and Mary to guide kids through the process. The website also pops up gift suggestions as you make your list. If the user doesn't want the suggested gift, it will get tossed into a virtual dump truck. If you do want it, there's a bell that rings when you add the gift suggestion to your list. This is one idea that's sure to find a lot of supporters and detractors alike. It's just another way the Internet is interacting with Christmas in a controversial manner. On one hand, parents are worried that they won't be able to afford what their children select. On the other hand, it takes the guesswork out of shopping for your kids. Clark says he always knows what his kids want because they talk about it constantly. When it comes to his teenage daughter, it's always jewelry!
This past weekend ushered in the traditional kick-off of the holiday shopping season. It began with Black Friday and ended with Cyber Monday. The best guesses were that sales on the former day hit $10 billion, while the latter day had sales in the $700 million range.
The Black Friday stories are now almost legendary: People camping outside of electronics stores in the wee hours of the morning. Fist-fights breaking out as shoppers jostle for position. Clark saw some TV footage of a man in Jacksonville, Fla., who camped outside a Best Buy beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving!
Clark never goes shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. So what does he do instead? Well, when the going gets tough, the tough get to the beach! Clark actually was forced to do a little shopping because his sun shoes floated out into the ocean during low tide. So he and his family hastened to a shoe store and found they were the only customers. The shoes were on sale, of course.
Clark's executive producer Christa, meanwhile, intentionally went out shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. But she was able to avoid the craziness by going out after 11 a.m. when things quiet down. She also managed to save $40 on $100 worth of cookie cutters for a children's hospital charity event. You go, girl!
Electronics are some of the hottest items for both men and women this holiday season. Clark's been looking at several websites dedicated to leaking the deals, and he has the scoop on what you'll be seeing at retailers on the day after Thanksgiving.
Let's get started with digital cameras. First off, Clark says this is one of the most difficult areas to comparison shop because it seems like every retailer sells about 25 types! Try going to CNET.com and reading customer reviews to get a handle on the model you want. That said, this is the first Christmas that SLR (single-lens reflex) digital cameras are coming in under $500. The advantage of SLRs is that they offer better picture quality even though they're a bit bulky.
When it comes to GPS units, look for prices around $100-$149. Best Buy is listing the popular TomTom One for $119. Staples will have some GPS deals for $124; Office Depot for $129; and Circuit City will be selling the discount Mio Walker GPS for $99.
Meanwhile, portable DVD players won't be much cheaper ($79-89) than they were last year, but you'll find the average screen size has gotten larger.
If you're in the market for a laptop computer, you'll find some deals in the $299-349 range at Circuit City and Staples, respectively.
Finally, look for a variety of HDTV deals. Some retailers are offering 32-inch screens for around $399. If you want to check out a Black Friday website for yourself, try logging on to BlackFriday.info. Clark told you several weeks ago how Wal-Mart was trying to put the kibosh on such websites leaking its deals. So somebody leaked the sales info to CNN and Wal-Mart got way more exposure than they expected!
Gift card fatigue has finally set in across the land. Clark was only too happy to learn recently that sales of gift cards are stalling. Why is he so opposed to these popular holiday gift items? For starters, a whopping 27 percent of them are never redeemed. Many more are only partially redeemed. The only good gift card is the kind where you get greater monetary value than you actually pay for. Restaurants and spas are among the businesses that sometimes offer bonus bucks when you buy a gift card. Sounds good, right? But before you even think about getting a gift card, reach in your purse or wallet and pull out a bill. Look at it closely. It has no expiration date and there's no inactivity or activation fee. That's the beauty of cash, and it really highlights why gift cards are such a bum gift. Clark himself has gotten burned on an ice cream shop gift card he received on his last birthday. Sadly, the store was out of business when he tried to use it several months later. So what's a discerning gift-giver to do? Clark has come up with his own "gift card" that you can use to show you're a Clark Smart giver. Print it out, wrap it around an honest Abe or a Jackson and gift it as you see fit!
Electronics retailers are really playing Scrooge this holiday season. Picture this: On Christmas morning or Hanukkah evening, you open a gift and feign excitement about another DVD player, GPS unit or other electronics item that you don't really want. The next day you go to the store and try to return it. Chances are the retailer will hit you with a restocking fee of around 15 percent for having opened any electronics item. Why not keep your gift sealed and just politely explain to the giver that you don't want to detract from everyone else's joy of opening gifts? Your gratitude to the giver is what matters most. What if the tables are turned and you've given a gift that someone doesn't love? Be sure to get a gift receipt so the recipient won't have difficulty when they try to return it. Meanwhile, Best Buy has just announced its new holiday return policy. But beware of the mice type. There are about a page of exclusions! Looking for a return-friendly retailer? Try Sam's Club or Costco Wholesale.
With Christmas fast approaching, Clark wants to tell you how to manage your holiday shopping list without going over budget. But first he has a dirty little secret to reveal: Half of all holiday shopping you do when they're supposedly shopping for others is actually for you! While this isn't true of everyone, this is a very typical pattern. So be honest with yourself and come up with a holiday shopping list that includes everyone you want to shop for and yourself. How much money can you afford to spend on yourself and others for Christmas? Decide what the total dollar amount is and stick to it. That way you'll avoid that January hangover effect when the credit card bills come due. Once you have your list and the grand total, you've got to put a dollar amount down for each person. When push comes to shove, you may have to drop people off the list or reduce the dollar amount by each name—including yours—until it fits within your intended budget. Bring this list with you when you shop. Consult it when you make a purchase. If you overspend one on person, cut somewhere else. If you spend less than you anticipate on someone, you have more money left to spend on somebody else. Clark loves it every season when people come up to him in the stores and show him their lists! One last hint: You may also want to purge the plastic from your purse or wallet and try paying for holiday shopping with cash only. When there's no cash left, there can be no more purchases. Clark recently spoke to a credit counselor who sees tons of clients by March because they can't handle their holiday bills. Don't let this be you!
What's widely considered to be the world's best-run supermarket chain is about to make a long-overdue entry into the American marketplace. For years, British-based chain Tesco has resisted coming stateside because the market has been too competitive. But Tesco now is poised to open stores under the Fresh & Easy banner in California, Arizona and Nevada. Last spring, the retailer built a prototype warehouse store in California and put researchers into American homes to help determine what consumers want from their food markets. The results? Less choice and a better shopping experience! So while your average supermarket is huge, Fresh & Easy stores will be about a fifth of that size. They'll also carry 3,500 products -- a limited number that's approximately one-tenth of what other supermarkets carry. Tesco's U.S. business model will also have a heavy emphasis on fresh and organic food. The idea is that stocking a smaller number of varieties will ensure that food can be fresher. Picture a more upscale Aldi market and you'll have an idea of what Fresh & Easy will offer. Tesco hopes to have about 200 Fresh & Easy stores in slightly more than a year. Clark has high hopes for this venture, but we'll have to wait and see how everything works out.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has been front and center in Clark's mind over the whole issue of unsafe Chinese toys getting into our marketplace and harming children. This is a federal agency that's charged with seeing that dangerous products get pulled. But the CPSC really isn't doing that at all, thanks to the actions of chairwoman Nancy Nord. By law, the CPSC is prohibited from issuing public reports about unsafe items until after a multiyear investigation. Nord has been lobbying to not have additional authority to deliver reports in a quicker manner. She's also fighting a move in Congress to fine manufacturers who make unsafe products. So what gives? Clark would love for Nord to come on the show and explain her position. Perhaps she's the ultimate libertarian who believes that capitalism is the best way to deal with products that kill children. Clark is just shocked that a woman whose job it is to protect consumers is actively campaigning to undermine efforts that would allow her to do so. But Clark doesn't want to jump to conclusions. After all, he doesn't personally know Nord and has no idea if it's her goal to harm children everyday. In addition, he does know what it's like to be on the receiving end of completely off-base attacks on the Clark Stinks message board. So he wants to hear right from Nord herself why it's a bad idea for government to ensure the safety of toys.
Many people have been logging on to Black Friday websites to get the early word about retail deals well in advance of the Friday after Thanksgiving. Retailers have just barely been tolerating the existence of these sites. After all, they don't really want their competition to know about their pricing. Now Wal-Mart has had its lawyers send nasty cease-and-desist letters to several Black Friday websites. But this has only created more interest in people about these sites. Clark thinks some off-shore website will probably publish the Black Friday prices and there won't be anything Wal-Mart can do about it.
But are you as a consumer prepared to get up at 3 a.m. and wait in the dark before a store opens just to get a deal? Clark certainly won't be doing that. As an alternative, keep in mind that online retailers start offering their big deals on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people return to work. There's a temptation to think that everyone is shopping online these days. But the reality is that only about five percent of all purchases are made online. Most holiday shopping is still done in person because customers want to see and touch the merchandise. One thing that people don't mind buying online is electronics. Clark predicted in March or April that GPS units would be the big electronics item this Christmas. He was wrong; they're about the fifth most wanted item. But the price could be right this season. The Kansas City Star reports that GPS units were around $1,000 two years ago. Last Christmas they were an average of $433. This holiday season they'll probably be in the $100-$200 range. Clark has a GPS he loves that cost him around $160.
When can you really justify making an expensive luxury purchase? Phyllis Furman, a business writer for The New York Daily News, recently wrote on an article on this topic and Clark has taken issues with some of her picks. For example, Furman thinks premium men's watches priced at $900 and up are worth it. Clark disagrees. He has an inexpensive Casio that has lasted him very well. He can't believe that The Financial Times -- a very upscale newspaper -- sometimes has ads for watches that cost $100,000. Furman also feels designer handbags priced at $800 and up are worth it -- something Clark just doesn't understand. On the subject of men's wool suits, the two once again have diverging feelings. Furman thinks suits priced at $300 are worth it, yet Clark has both a grey and a blue suit he got at J.C. Penney on sale for $149 each. There are, however, some areas where the two see eye to eye. Clark and Furman both agree that expensive built-in refrigerators, costly mattresses and designer jeans are not worth the price. When it comes to jeans, for example, it's the fit that matters, not the brand name. It's perfectly acceptable to pick up a pair for as little as $15.
Clark was recently getting a cheese-steak at a greasy spoon he likes to frequent. When the manager asked him for his frequent diner card, he couldn't produce it and missed out on a discount that he should have gotten! Clark is one of those people who has trouble keeping track of coupons and frequently loses them. He once had a coupon to get his oil changed, but it took him two days to find the coupon before he could use it! Meanwhile, Clark's TV producer is so obsessed with coupon-clipping that she has a big notebook sorted by categories like breakfast, lunch and dinner. When she's in the breakfast aisle at the grocery store, she simply looks in her notebook and voila! Now a company called CellFire.com allows you to get coupons sent directly to your cell phone. Even better, these coupons can be scanned at the register straight from your phone! This definitely helps address the flake factor. This technology is still in its infancy, but it promises to deliver advertising that you can really count on. For example, both Google and Nokia want to deliver targeted ads to your cell phone. So if you're driving down the street past a Dunkin Donuts, you'll get coupon for that store sent your phone. This will help advertisers track who redeems their coupons and help them avoid the expenses of printing and distributing old-fashioned coupons that could go unused.
Editor's note: While CellFire.com is free, your wireless carrier may charge a fee when you use the service. See the company's terms of service for more information.
A few days ago, Clark spoke about how you can use the calendar to help you pick the best time to buy a vacation home. But did you know you can also benefit by timing your purchases at retail stores? During the fall, there are plenty of deals on wine because the harvest cycle generates a lot of oversupply. Clark and his wife snatched up a bottle of merlot for $2.77 the other day and his wife will see how it is the next time they entertain and serve wine. Clark, meanwhile, will stick to his Coke Zero! MarketWatch.com recently ran a story that unveiled other seasonal deals. October is the best month to shop for blue jeans and toys. Wal-Mart has already slashed toy prices in anticipation of a weak holiday sales season. Right now you'll see price cuts and a great inventory because people haven't started Christmas shopping yet. In November, you'll find that sneakers are a real deal. That's because of oversupply following the hot back-to-school sales season for both kids and adults. November also is the best month of the year to buy a wedding gown. Affordable dresses are now available at Target, Ann Taylor, J.C. Penney and David's Bridal.
Clark was surprised when he recently read an article written by Greg Karp that details how much you can save on groceries at Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid, which are the three major drugstore chains. Clark typically thinks of these places as convenience stores that happen to sell prescription drugs. He'd rarely think of buying groceries at them. But in the article, Karp challenged Coupon Mom Stephanie Nelson to see how well she could do buying groceries at drugstores. When the dust settled, Nelson bought $266 of merchandise for $5.63! It's very unlikely that anyone other than Nelson could save that much, but the article really prompted Clark to adjust his thinking. Be sure to check Coupon Mom's site for her for tips on saving at the drugstore chains.
Christmas lists last year were topped by requests for clothing, followed by peace and happiness. The least popular answer was computers. But the past year has brought many changes. Today the No. 1 thing people want is computers. Peace and happiness now comes in second, followed by big-screen TVs, clothing and money. Computers sales tend to come in waves. One of the last great sales surges was in 1999 when people bought systems that were Y2K compliant. On a side note, Clark recalled all the millennial hysteria surrounding wide-eyed predictions about planes falling out of the sky at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, 1999. Clark was in the air on New Year's Eve at midnight Greenwich Mean Time doing phone interviews with various radio and TV stations. Some people thought it would be the last time they ever heard from him because they expected his plane to crash! Fortunately it didn't. But those people who bought computers in 1999 now have systems that are the end of their life. That partly explains this holiday season's computer craze.
Folks often ask Clark what they should spend on a computer. Clark believes you can get a nice desktop for $300 and a good laptop for $450. But now a Taiwanese company has announced plans to sell a basic notebook model for the low $200s. The cheap laptop is being called the eee PC and should hit stores within a few months. Meanwhile, the Black Friday shopping sites have begun popping up with their predictions about sale prices on the day after Thanksgiving. According to some, Sears will be selling 32-inch hi-def TVs for $300 and 42-inch plasma TVs for $600. We'll have links to various Black Friday shopping sites for you as we get closer to Xmas.
Clark and his wife consulted a website called Yelp.com to figure out where to eat and what to do when they recently visited San Francisco. It just goes to show that the opinions of our fellow consumers have become so important in our choices. Yelp.com was like a cheat-sheet for Clark and his wife. Nowadays we're always looking online to benefit from collective knowledge to help us make better choices. Similarly, Clark loves another opinion site called TripAdvisor.com when he's picking a hotel. But he usually ignores the opinions of people who complain unjustifiably and European travelers. The Europeans generally have lower hotel expectations than Americans.
A recent Deloitte & Touche survey revealed that two-thirds of us read online reviews before we buy, do, go or eat anywhere. Over 80 percent said it affected their buying decision. Various media companies have been trying to launch new online consumer opinion sites like Kudzu.com, Citysearch and others. If you run a company, you need to pay attention to these important developments. Businesses that don't heed customer postings are at a disadvantage. Very often CEOs don't want to hear bad news. But you'd better listen up when a customer goes on a message board and tells you that you stink. Customers are a better source of information than the corporate yes-men that surround many CEOs. The Internet world is like a truth serum for businesses and consumers alike.
So many of us are overly brand conscious. Clark recently spoke to a group of eighth graders and noticed that some of the kids were wearing brand-name tennis shoes that cost between $115 and $130. He drew mostly blank stares when he asked the kids if they'd rather spend $15 bucks on shoes and have a hundred dollars in their pocket. Sometimes we're so focused on fitting in that we can't see another way. Similarly, a British man named Neil Boorman felt he was suffering from what he called "obsessive branding disorder." He decided to live without brands for a year and vowed to only buy things based on their practicality. He banned himself from all single-brand stores -- such as Niketown, Armani, Gucci and Versace -- and even bought generic foods. The end result was that he felt so much freer in his life.
That may sound weird and hokey, but even personal finance expert Suze Orman talks about the emotional addiction we get to our purchases. Clark often reminds people that branding usually has nothing to do with quality. It's all about imaging. Contrary to popular belief, Clark wears name brand clothes -- they're just from the private labels of the big warehouses clubs (things like Kirkland Signature from Costco, for example). Clark's price point for casual shirts is to not pay more than $9.99. With dress shirts, he won't go over $15. Retailers actually love when you buy generic because they make higher profits on their in-house brands. Try not going into stores if you're looking for other ways to beat brand addiction. Clark once interviewed a couple for a TV story who agreed to only go to the supermarket for perishables once every other week and to only get non-perishable food items every six weeks. They paid off a mountain of debt in a very short time using this method. Different people like to take different approaches. But the central question remains: Do you want to be controlled by the items you buy or are you the boss?
Think it's too early to start looking ahead to the Christmas shopping season? Retailers have already begun fretting over it. Dow Jones recently reported that retailers are getting more sober with their expectations and have cut back significantly on imported goods for this upcoming Christmas. A lot of spending during prior holiday seasons came from people borrowing against their homes. But that teller window now is closed in our current housing market. It's kind of a strange time because big companies and financiers are cautiously optimistic about the economy, yet two-thirds of consumers are expecting recession. That means retailers can't figure out which way the wind is blowing. So far the retailers have cut back on ordering as they try to avoid extreme discounting on goods that may sit unsold.
If the financiers are right and people do buy heavily this holiday season, there will be less promotional activity and less real deals on products after the holidays. But if consumers are right and they cut back on shopping, there will be a lot of opportunity to buy cheap. Meanwhile, there will be great bargains on clothing if the warmer weather across the country continues. In the electronics world, Nintendo's Wii is going to be difficult to get because of continued short supply. Clark's eight-year-old daughter clobbers him when playing tennis on the Wii, but he's pretty capable when playing bowling on the game system. As a parent, Clarks likes that the Wii encourages kids to get up and be active while playing their video games.
For years Clark has taken issue with eBay because it's enabled counterfeiters by creating an unmonitored marketplace where they can peddle their bogus goods. Now he's saluting the company because of its coordinated effort to crack down on people selling recalled toys that have lead paint. Clark's executive producer Christa -- a frequent eBay seller and buyer -- usually takes a very libertarian view of things. But in this case she too salutes the company's efforts since the products in question have already been recalled by the government. Meanwhile, Clark has a market-based solution to the counterfeiting problem. He believes eBay should have bonded sellers. People would pay for a bond and the company would reimburse buyers if they were sold bogus goods. Sellers would then be able to command higher dollars for their legitimate goods under Clark's plan.
Wal-Mart is taking a pre-emptive strike against protected sluggish holiday sales by lowering the price on toys very early in the game. As the world's largest retailer and the largest seller of toys in the United States, Wal-Mart is really putting the heat on fellow retailers such as Target with this move. There's no one toy that's a runaway hit this season, so price is really going to become the key seller. One recent favorite, the Nintendo Wii, is back on the market after a serious shortage. Clark thinks the Wii is really interesting since it gets users up and out of their seats when they want to play a game. Now is the time to grab a Wii, which goes for the suggested retail price of around $249; don't wait until it becomes scarce again. For adults, the holiday sales season will be very promotional. The prices of hi-def TVs are set to drop precipitously. Clark recently saw Fry's selling a 32-inch hi-def TV for $397 -- so much less than a year ago. Plasma TVs will also be extra cheap, but DLPs remain the best deal if you have the space for them. One word of advice: don't buy a hi-def DVD this season. Wait until the format wars between HD DVD and Blu-ray get sorted out and then buy the winner.
Have you ever walked into a fast food restaurant or a supermarket and rented new movies for a dollar per day? The DVDs are typically housed in a kiosk that's the size of a soda vending machine. The selection is usually limited to a hundred or so titles at most. But imagine walking in and being able to select from a catalog of thousands of films. The kiosk would then burn you a DVD copy to rent or buy. This is the next development that's coming down the pike. It's going to be like having the world's biggest Blockbuster or the entire Netflix catalog at your fingertips. The technology for this advancement has existed for a while, but the major movie studios had concerns about these burned DVDs being pirated. Now that those issues have been addressed, The Wall Street Journal reports that chains like Walgreens hope to get in front of this trend and place DVD-burning kiosks in their stores. Once the initial bugs are worked out, this service is going to be incredibly convenient for consumers.
There's a new recall of children's cribs that parents need to know about. One million cribs sold under the Graco and Simplicity brands between 1998 and this past May pose a structural danger to babies. Following is a list of the affected cribs. There's more information available online or by calling 1-888-593-9274. The recalled Simplicity crib models include: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery in a Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Pooh 4 in 1, Chelsea and the following cribs with the Graco logo: Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in 1, Ultra 5 in 1, Trio and Whitney. The model numbers are: 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760 and 8996.
Sometimes a recall is not what you think -- you may not just simply return the item and get your money back. In the instance of this recall, you'll be sent a kit to make repairs yourself to bring the product up to code. Clark says there needs to be laws in place to make sure our kids are safe. Libertarians will argue that the market will punish those who make unsafe products, but how do you replace a vulnerable child who is injured or killed because of a manufacturer's negligence?? The Chicago Tribune recently reported how the feds sometimes look the other way when it comes to recalls. One retailer that's handling recalls the right way is Target, which has recalled its Cool Toyz play-set. Target is offering a full refund for the roughly 200,000 play-sets out there with lead paint. But how many have been returned so far? The Washington Post reports only 766, even though the paint in the play-set has 15 times the lead allowed by law. Meanwhile, the recent Thomas the Train recall must have received more media attention because the return rate there is about 40 percent. The responsibility must not fall on just the government, the media, the retailers or the manufacturers; it's one that should be shared jointly with parents. The safety of your children is important and you must protect it.
When you check out at any store, it's practically universal that you'll be rung up by a scanner. This is a good thing for speeding up the checkout process, but a bad thing when deals aren't entered into the computer and you're overcharged at the register. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Office Depot has been fined $2.3 million for overcharging customers in California at the register. As part of the settlement, Office Depot has agreed to offer five-dollar coupons in future sales circulars and refund five dollars to those who are overcharged again. Clark has his own system to avoid getting ripped off at the register. He doesn't allow anything to be rung until he has all items ready to go and he can watch the register. He loves self-checkout service for this very reason. Clark benefits from having a photographic memory when it comes to remembering prices, but he encourages others to write down the sale price or bring the circular to make sure they're getting the deals. Clark recently was at a store that rang everything up at retail price and only made deductions once it had all been totaled. It turns out he was overcharged $50 and had to have the order rung up again to get the right prices!
This Christmas season will be another banner year for gift cards. If you're a longtime listener, you know that Clark doesn't like gift cards -- unless you get more value than you pay for or you get extra free services when you buy one. The main reason he objects to gift cards is because they can become useless if the business where you bought them goes bust -- especially if you're talking about an independently owned shop, and not a chain store. Fortune magazine recently reported that many businesses are upset that states have passed laws to eliminate expiration dates on gift cards. That means there's one less way they can rip you off. Clark knows that he can't stop people from gift-card buying, but he wants his listeners to know that you can get burned on these purchases. Clark instead suggests giving cash if you don't know what to buy somebody or getting a greeting card and writing a personal message from the heart.
There's going to be a marriage of TV and Internet in the coming years and the level of interactivity will be incredible. Clark was really excited when TechNewsWorld.com recently reported about upcoming innovations that will integrate e-commerce and TV programming in a new way. Say you're watching a TV show and you notice some really fashionable clothing or shoes being worn by an actor or actress. You'll be able to click with your mouse or TV remote and purchase the clothing or shoes right then and there via a pop-up purchase window. People who watch TV shows on the web are already experiencing this kind of cross-promotion on their computers.
An MTV reality series called The Hills is trying out this new business model. So TV viewers like Christa, Clark's executive producer, can purchase clothing worn by the show's Lauren Conrad while she experiences daily drama in the chic setting of her Teen Vogue internship. Not exactly the kind of advancement Clark was hoping this technology would bring us! He's looking forward to the day when there will be one junction box on your TV that bring together lots of programming from multiple platforms -- satellite, cable, the web, mobile and more.
Best Buy and Circuit City have come up with a new way to rip off customers buying computers -- and it has nothing to do with extended warranties. According to PC World, these retailers are now trying to get customers to pay for Windows recovery discs. The backup discs are rarely needed, but the retailers have found a way to boost profits by tapping into the "what if" fear of consumers who may not know a lot about computers. It turns out that you can make these discs yourself or buy them from the manufacturer for half of what the stores charge you.
PC World got so fired up over the whole issue that they sent in secret shoppers to get the real scoop. The shoppers found that Circuit City pushed them hard to pay an extra $30 for the store-made recovery discs. But at Best Buy, three out of five stores outright told the shoppers that it's not possible to make the backup discs yourself. Meanwhile, several of the top computer manufacturers say that their notebook models come with instructions and software for creating the recovery discs. Best Buy tried to explain its way out of the situation by telling PC World that it was all just a miscommunication between the secret shoppers and the sales associates. But you have to understand that electronics retailers have really had their profit margins crushed, so they're desperate to push extra stuff on unwitting consumers. One last word on extended warranties on computers: Don't get them! Computers develop so quickly that there's no sense in insuring what may be obsolete in a year or two. When you're shopping for a laptop, just make sure you get one that has at least one gig of RAM for the memory. Clark also recommends Firefox for web browsing, rather than IE.
Should you buy antibacterial soaps for your home? People routinely pay more for them, but are they really a benefit? The answer is no, according to a new report in The Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases. The report found that you won't get any more sanitary with antibacterial soap than you will with plain soap. There's even a stunner of a finding that suggests antibacterial soap can harm you by making you resistant to antibiotics. About two or three years ago, Clark championed early reports about people developing antibiotic resistance from antibacterial soap. He got a lot of pushback from his crew at that time. People don't seem to want to hear that antibacterial soap isn't as good for them as it's cracked up to be. They often wonder why hospital staffers always use antibacterial soaps and lotions. It turns out that the concentration they use in medical facilities is much higher than what's available at retail. So if you're wondering what soap Clark recommends, he thinks Ivory is great because of its affordable price. However, even he doesn't use this soap in his home. He admits to instead overpaying for Irish Spring!
There's a new study out that says 60 percent of Americans are overweight. Mississippi has the highest rate (31 percent) of obese people. Yet Clark doesn't often see overweight people in places like Manhattan and San Francisco where folks frequently walk. Exercise is obviously the key. So what are you going to wear when you exercise? Well, Consumer Reports recently took a look at Starbury shoes, a brand pioneered by NBA player Stephon Marbury and clothing retailer Steve and Barry's. Starbury shoes sell for $14.98 and Consumer Reports finds that they offer good cushioning, flexibility and they breathe well. On a related note, Clark's executive producer, Christa, recently discovered that Steve and Barry's also sells actress Sarah Jessica Parker's line of clothing. All the clothes from the Sex and the City star's Bitten imprint are available for under $20. "Fashion is not a luxury, it's a right" is the slogan featured in the ads! If you're looking for other fashionable yet inexpensive duds you may want to check out Target. The company has teamed up with some high-end designers to bring specially made clothing to its customers for a limited time. Meanwhile, Christa recounted her horror story of being in New York for Clark's Rachael Ray Show taping and trying to shop at H&M. She took a cab back and forth from their hotel to the store and spent $7.50 to go and $15 to come back. Unfortunately she was so pressed for time with the TV shoot that she didn't get to purchase a single thing!
Clark gets his hair cut at place where he pays between $10 and $13 dollars. His executive producer, Christa, now saves triple digits (pet visit!) by going to an Aveda Institute and getting her hair cut by stylists in training. On the other end of the spectrum, The Dallas Morning News reports that there's a new trend among men to go to expensive salons that are geared specifically to guys. Knock Outs is one chain that's in 11 states and has 123 locations that feature female stylists in shorts and tight T-shirts. Guys also get a free beer during each appointment. There's another chain called Sport Clips that's in 32 states and has 400 locations. This one uses a locker-room theme with stylists in tennis shoes and sweat pants -- sorry guys, no women in tight clothes. Yet another chain offers an annual membership where you can get unlimited cuts for $525/year. Not exactly a cheap option compared to Clark's clip shop!
Think stealing music on the Internet is a thing of the past? Think again. In a way, stolen music is actually more consumer friendly than legitimately purchased downloads. That's because the major record labels have long been proponents of digital-rights management or DRM. In essence, they make it difficult for you to do what you want with legitimately downloaded music. DRM ensures that you can not use music you've purchased online across platforms -- on multiple MP3 players or computers, for example. But the irony is that if you stole that same music online, you could do whatever you want with it. Supporting DRM has been a stupid move on the part of the labels, according to Clark. But now Universal Music Group and EMI -- two labels that control about half the music out there -- are bucking the trend. They're teaming up with Wal-Mart to offer DRM-free tracks for 94 cents a pop. Universal artists include 50 Cent, Bon Jovi and the Counting Crows, among others. EMI's catalog encompasses music from the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Coldplay and more. So you can buy the music and put it on whatever MP3 player or computer you want.
As an aside, Clark shared a great anecdote about how he first became aware of rapper 50 Cent. About four years ago, Clark was staying at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Seattle during a book tour. Parking at the hotel was too expensive for Clark's taste, so he found some free parking about a mile away. While he was walking back to the hotel, he passed an arena where 50 Cent was performing that night. He saw a lot of scalpers on the street shouting, "50 Cent tickets." Clark couldn't understand why they were selling tickets for 50 cents! When he got back to the hotel, it turns out the rapper was staying there. Clark crossed paths with Fiddy's posse, and he drew blank stares when he asked them, "Who is 50 Cent?"
Spain used to be known as the country of insomniacs. The Spaniards have long had their own unique schedule. Dinner doesn't usually start until 10 p.m., and people may not go to bed until 3 a.m. Then they'll get up at 7 in the morning and historically took midday siestas for several hours. But as Spain got more Europeanized, businesses began to stay open all day. People, however, still went to bed late, hence the insomniac part. We Americans are right on the Spaniards' heels in terms of sleep deprivation. With longer commutes and more responsibilities, our sleep has become increasingly scarce. Clark's YMCA now opens at 5:30 in the morning and people are lined up because it's the only time during their day that they can exercise.
This whole trend has led people to look for the magic answer to better sleep in better (and more expensive) mattresses. There's a huge market for premium mattresses -- those that cost $2,500 or more. Smart Money magazine reports that one in four mattresses bought is now a premium one, and the market has doubled over the last five years. There's not a lot of scientific evidence to suggest these beds will get you better sleep. So Clark suggests some other low-tech ways to get your rest. Try turning the TV off at an earlier time and not sitting on the Internet past 9 p.m. You might even try removing TVs and computers from your bedroom entirely. Just a thought before you go plunking $2,500 down on a premium mattress. Meanwhile, be sure to vote in Clark's polls and tell us what you think about this issue.
Minneapolis' Star Tribune reports that sales of extended electronics warranties at Best Buy and Circuit City are down 12 percent and eight percent, respectively. Clark really rejoices in these stats because he hates when these warranties are crammed down your throat by salespeople. Speaking of that, Clark recently bought an LCD TV (on sale) at a major electronics retailer. When the salesperson started his spiel about the warranty and Clark declined, the salesperson dropped him like a hot potato. He actually left Clark by himself to lift the TV onto his cart and didn't even fill out a customer ticket! Clark thinks the man probably acted this way because he may have needed a certain close rate on the customer tickets he writes up. So rather than risk being penalized for not selling the warranty, the sales associate didn't even bother writing up a ticket. At Circuit City, for example, the only way they survive is through warranty sales. Best Buy, meanwhile, reported some $800 million -- more than half of their $1.38 billion in profits -- came from the sale of extended warranties.
Clark says the payback on warranties is worse than on a Vegas slot-machine. In fact, he jokingly advises people to get a quote on a warranty and then go drop that chunk of change in a one-armed bandit. At least then you'll get flashing lights, racket and noise, plus have some fun taking in the atmosphere! But seriously, for every dollar you pay on an electronics warranty, you only get back about eight to15 cents, after you account for depreciation and how quickly technology becomes outdated. Clark thinks you should never buy an extended warranty on computers and electronics. You're a little bit safer with a warranty on your appliances. Finally, keep in mind that credit cards will sometimes double the manufacturer's warranty on electronics. It's like getting an extended warranty for free!
Clark has noticed that a lot of garage space is not used for parking cars very much anymore. Garages have become giant storage rooms for a lot of people. There's a whole cottage industry of contractors who will convert your garage with special shelving or storage units. The Washington Post recently reported on one such company that offers slanted walls covering, ceiling mounted bike hoists and more. Why do more and more Americans want to trick out their garages? Clark thinks it's simply because we buy too much stuff, which also accounts for the growth of the off-site storage industry. Not too far from where Clark lives, there's a posh neighborhood with a storage company that's built their facility to look like it's from colonial Williamsburg! But while storage may be necessary during certain times of life -- when you're moving or getting divorced, for example -- the bottom line is that we're just buying too much junk. When Clark goes jogging at his beach home, he passes by a house with a three-car garage. Once the doors were open and he saw that two-thirds of the garage was stacked with storage boxes from the concrete floor to the roof. Maybe we all need to stop buying so much and discard some of the stuff we don't need. Clark's wife dates everything she puts in their home's storage room. If a year passes and she hasn't needed it, she sells it or gives it away. Meanwhile, Clark never grabs a cart when he's shopping -- unless he needs to get a very heavy item. That way he can cut down on impulse buys. When was the last time you went through your closet? If you want to cut down on what you have, try having a garage sale or giving it away on Freecycle.org.
Right now mainland China is taking a lot of heat for shipping unsafe products like tires, toys and toothpaste to the West. Will all the criticism change the way the communist government does business? Clark hopes so. The country has made enormous progress from the first time he visited it and experienced full-on Mao-style communism. Then when he went back about 11 years later, he was surprised to see the country had become relatively freer. Today, China is torn between its totalitarian past and its future of embracing capitalism. Clark recently read an article that said that we as American consumers are helping to make the Chinese people freer than they are now when we buy their products. Currently under the communist system there is a lot of nepotism and doing business is all about who you know. If you bribe the right people, you can ship out your unsafe products without consequences. But now that people are frowning on Chinese goods the demand in the West for their products may dry up. Clark wonders if the communists' failure to ensure safe goods will be the very thing that opens up their society even more.
Clark doesn't do rebates. He believes that you shouldn't buy something just because it offers a rebate. After all, you may never see that money! The Wall Street Journal recently sent five people out to buy five different items at five different retailers. All the products purchased came with rebates. All five people correctly filled out the necessary paperwork to get the rebates. Yet only one person actually got money back. That's a mere 20 percent! And that was with all the rebates being processed properly by the consumer. Now, think about how often you lose the rebate paperwork or fill it out incorrectly. Rebates are like a legal con game, according to Clark. His executive producer, Christa, recently tried to get a rebate from her phone company when she got high-speed internet bundled with other services. She still hasn't received any money back. Even worse, she was eligible for three separate rebates when she bundled three services together. But she hasn't yet seen a single penny in rebate funds from her phone company. Meanwhile, Clark likes that OfficeMax has eliminated rebates and instead lowered prices. Staples, meanwhile, offers very easy online rebates similar to wholesalers like Costco and BJ's. That's a good start, but why don't they just go the OfficeMax route? Perhaps because they know that most people don't even bother applying for rebates. The moral of the story here is that you shouldn't buy something just because it offers a great rebate deal unless you are sure you are going to use the product.
This is going to be a great year for high definition on your TV set. According to new statistics from the electronics industry, 25 percent of households are now hi-def. Just 18 months ago, that number was probably seven or eight percent. There's more hi-def programming being churned out, too. The Discovery Channel made a big ratings comeback thanks to Discovery HD, which features incredible photography that renders beautifully in hi-def and has really captivated viewers. Now, Direct TV's goal is to have 100 HD channels before the end of the year. What's happening there is that they're scared of the triple-play packages from the cable companies -- where you get cable, Internet and phone -- so they're fighting back with this promise to offer more hi-def programming.
Clark's approach to hi-def is to let the early adopters get in the game and drive the price down as the quality of programming up. That's already happening. Many of the major TV networks now put out hi-def transmissions in addition to regular broadcast signals. Meanwhile, a plasma TV today costs a quarter of what it did 36 months ago. And this Christmas, you can get a hi-def set for under $500 bucks. Still too expensive for your taste? The irony here is that you get a better picture from a hi-def transmission if you use conventional rabbit ears on your old TV set than if you actually pay for the hi-def programming and equipment. On the retail front, the way people purchase hi-def equipment is changing as well. Electronics retailers like Circuit City and Tweeter are in trouble because people buy their equipment at Wal-Mart, Costco and Sam's Club. In fact, the only electronics retailer doing well in hi-def sales is Best Buy.
About two years ago, Clark first started talking about clinics where you can go to see a medical professional without an appointment. Big retail chains like Wal-Mart and Target sometimes have such places on premises. What you usually do is speak with a nurse practitioner, not an actual doctor. But they're affordable and a good choice if you have a very routine medical concern. The drugstores chains have also jumped on the idea of these in-store clinics because they help create an instant market for their own pharmacy counters. The latest development now is that Wal-Mart has announced plans to establish 2,000 of these "doc-in-a-box" practices in its stores.
Clark loves the idea of having a one-stop shop option in the medical field. Up until now, the medical profession has been very slow to embrace change in the marketplace. That's why the healthcare experience for the average American includes going to the doctor's office across town, getting a handwritten prescription and then running all the way back across town to the pharmacy just to wait to have it filled. That's a very inefficient process that's not customer friendly. This new wave of in-store clinics promises to help shake up the medical field. And because they take up very little real estate in a retail store, Clark believes they're the wave of the future. Whether it's a good or bad future remains to be seen; at the very least, the clinics will help alleviate the crunch in hospital emergency rooms.
As some of you may know, San Francisco has gone ahead and banned plastic shopping bags. Clark says he never really gives much thought when baggers in the grocery store ask him if he wants paper or plastic. He leaves it up to them and they usually opt for plastic. But the city of San Francisco is concerned about the environmental impact of plastic bags, which usually are made from foreign oil. So the Golden Gate City has banned all bags that aren't biodegradable. The idea of the government telling a private business how to handle bagging your groceries doesn't sit well with Clark. Instead, he'd like to see the government tax people who want their groceries in a plastic bag, while offering recyclable paper bags for free. As Clark says, if there is a valid environmental concern here, we should let the marketplace sort it out. Interestingly enough, San Francisco lawmakers at first considered levying a tax of 17 cents per plastic bag, but the stores preferred the ban over the tax. On a related note, a recent poll on Clark's site asked web users if they would pay more for environmentally safe picnic utensils. Overwhelmingly you said no.
Craigslist, the free classified website, has decimated the newspaper classified industry. Several years ago Ebay bought 25% of Craigslist. They didn't do anything with it, they just let it sit there as an investment. But now, Ebay is going into direct competition with a company they partially own by launching Kijiji.com. So now you'll have two sources for free online selling. This is good, because it will force Craigslist to get more creative with their website. (Clark thinks Kijiji's site is slicker and more attractive.) Whichever one you use, though, Clark wants you to go through your house and find things you're not using and try selling them. Might as well--it's free! Get your old junk out of your life and make some dough at the same time.
The U.S. Government has an annoying habit of ignoring the rising costs of food and energy when they calculate and issue inflation reports. But we consumers can't ignore them! Food costs have been accelerating at a pretty significant clip lately. But there are some trends in the supermarket industry that can make a huge difference in what you pay for groceries. There's a new chain that's quietly and steadily expanding in the US that making even WalMart worried. It's called Aldi. It's now in 27 states. When they go into a metro area, they actually try to stay invisible because they don't want to spark retaliation by the traditional supermarkets. Their stores are tiny, about the size of a corner drug store. They only stock a limited selection, offering most of the things you need, but not necessarily everything. This means they have less inventory to stock, so things are fresher and turn over more quickly. Most of the items are private label, too, meaning they can get better deals. The typical savings to a shopper is 40% -- double what you'd save in a Walmart supercenter! Keep in mind there aren't that many employees, so they're not always that neat and tidy. Plus you have to bring your own sacks and bag them up yourself. But if that doesn't bother you, it's a great opportunity to save a lot of money.
The internet offers users the opportunity to get thing much cheaper than at physical stores. The Wall Street Journal's Personal Journal section reported that people have begun treating cyberspace like an old-fashioned bazaar, where they haggle for lower prices. Comparison shopping websites like ShopStyle.com and Glimpse.com have always been helpful in this regard, especially if you're in the market for a good deal on clothes. You can even find out about big savings at message boards like MakeUpAlley.com and StyleForum.net, where bargain hunters will post their finds from around the web.
To bargain for lower prices online, you should e-mail the website you're interested in and tell them about a better offer you found elsewhere on the web. Often the e-tailer will give you a comparable or lower price (and maybe even throw in free shipping) to get your business. One thing from the Personal Journal article that really struck Clark was that the writer mentioned getting a pair of blue jeans online for the bargain price of just a little above $100 -- some $50 cheaper than list price. That just goes to show that Clark really lives in a different orbit than most people. He says he doesn't do triple-digit clothing; in fact, he doesn't even really do double-digit duds. Single digit? Now that's more his style!
Have you ever wondered about the logic behind the layout of your local supermarket? For example, why do they always put the milk way in the back of the store? Supermarkets know that if you come in for a single-item purchase, you're more likely to pick up some stray stuff if you have to wander through to get to what you really want. But this logic has started backfiring on retailers. They're finding that consumers don't want to be manipulated in this way. Now the Kroger and Publix food chains are putting mini-convenience marts with gas pumps in their parking lots in front of the store to better serve customers. While they may not get as many impulse buys, they appeal to customers by saving them on time.
Likewise, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that customers who enter the huge Wal-Mart super-centers with a shopping list in hand can only find two-thirds of what they want. So now there's a push for new signage in Wal-Marts to clearly identify the sections of the store. Finally retail stores are going to make it easier to find what you want! On a related note, how long do you wait in line at the supermarket? People often say an average of 15 minutes, but the actual time in line is 4 minutes and 27 seconds, according to a recent study. Keeping that wait time as low as possible really benefits supermarkets. They know that customers will abandon their carts if they're waiting on a line for too long. Then stores will have to restock the shelves and freezers with goods that have been left sitting without refrigeration and may have spoiled. Clark likes to say that retailing is one of the purest forms of free enterprise we've got. If you aren't happy giving your business to one market, go to another one. The greatest power you have as a consumer is the power to walk away.
Did you know the average wedding today costs around $30,000? If you go back just two generations in this country, you'll discover that people routinely got married for under $100. But if you've planned a wedding anytime recently, you know that the price tag associated with every aspect of the big day has been ballooning. Some brides have been known to pay $2,500 (and even up to $35,000!) for their dresses. Thankfully, there are a number of inexpensive wedding dresses available on the market. Retailers like Target, David's Bridal and Filene's Basement offer them in the $100-$200 range. As Clark says, your special day is not about the dress, the caterer or anything else; it's about picking the right mate. It's a day that should be about having a big heart, not a big wallet.
Clark has been called a lot of things over the years -- from cheap to thrifty to frugal. But when he recently read about the "freegan" movement, he began thinking that he might actually be one of the last of the big time spenders! Freegans are people who live off society's castoffs and get all their possessions for nothing. Basically, they take what's considered trash and turn it into treasure. Some do it to further a political agenda and some just do it for the free discarded furniture, stereos, TVs and more.
The New York Times recently ran an article about freegans showing up at New York University when it was time for students to move out at the end of the school year. Some of the goods the freegans found in dumpsters included artwork, iPods and desk lamps. Wow! Now, don't get Clark wrong; some of the more extreme dumpster-diving (or "urban foraging," in freegan lingo) practices like getting discarded food behind the market or out of the garbage really gross him out. He only fesses up to having dumpster-dived once when his wife threw away a box from something he'd purchased. He dove right in when needed to get the UPC code in order to get a $100 rebate! Meanwhile, if you want to try being a virtual freegan, go to FreeCycle.org, where you can gift or receive free stuff from your computer.
The Supreme Court ruled today in a 5-4 decision that price fixing is OK. Retailers used to pay the price for items set by the manufacturers and then set their own price for consumers. Now manufacturers will be able to tell retailers how much they must sell their product for. The only way that this won't stick is if the U.S. Congress makes laws in regard to this. When the Supremes hand down a decision though, things don't change right away. Price fixing is never good, and lets hope that things change or else we as consumers will be feeling our wallets pinched.
With the newspaper industry on the decline, there is a need for more creative ways to attract readers and make money at the same time. There are now 26 daily newspapers all over Europe that you can get for nothing. The internet has really made it necessary to charge less to nothing for papers because of all the free information online. Price wars are even happening here in the states. Newspapers have to cut their price in order to get readers. There are still some specialized papers like the Wall Street Journal that have continued to have lots of success with charging people to browse online as well as charging for their actual paper. However, watch for most papers to drop their prices substantially, and maybe even give them away.
Two buck chuck, the cheap wine based out of California has changed the entire industry. They have now sold over 300 million bottles in 5 years. $15 used to be the price point that people would not go below to get wine; but because the Two-buck-Chuck actually tastes good, people now know that they are able to get good wine for a reasonable price. So just remember, a higher price doesn’t always mean a better product.
How would you like to stretch your budget? One of the easiest ways is at the grocery store. Most people shop for food haphazardly or without a list, and it adds a lot of money to their bill. But, you can save 25 to 33 percent every time you shop if you just do a little homework. Clipping coupons either in the paper or on the Web is the best way to save. One useful site is couponmom.com. According to the Orlando Sentinel, you can consistently shave 33 percent off your budget if you clip coupons. So, if you’re one of the people with a big bill at the grocery store, consider trying it. Also consider buying store brands. The quality is just as good and the prices are much cheaper.
When you’re shopping online, you want the best price - but you also want to know you’re buying from a reliable retailer. Online sales continue to grow by leaps and bounds, although people still shop in stores much more often. About 90 percent of the retail dollar is still spent in the bricks and mortar stores. The one great thing about online shopping is the ability to comparison shop. Clark has enjoyed shopping around on the Web on sites such as Froogle, Shopzilla and CouponMountain. But he’s never found a great site that gives him exactly what he wants…until now. DealNews.com is a new site that is almost like a message board. Deals are updated about twice an hour and each deal is graded based on how hot it is. The more orange circles, the hotter the deal. So, you can tell if it’s really a great deal or not. Check it out!
Everything you buy these days has an MSRP, or manufacturer suggested retail price. But that is not necessarily what you will pay for it. Basically, the marketplace decides in the end. But, right now, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments that manufacturers should be able to fix the price of something. If the Supremes agree to this measure, a manufacturer sets the price and no matter where you buy it, the price is the same. That means the cost at Marshall’s and Stein Mart will be the same at Macy’s and Dillard’s. Clark hopes this does not happen. It will take away the consumer’s ability to comparison shop. Legal eagles think the Supremes will rule in favor of the manufacturers because it will cause people to buy other brands. We’ll keep you posted.
There have been so many security breaches at companies lately that people are almost immune to them. The latest one is so large and potentially dangerous that Clark wanted you to know about it. TJX, which owns T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Home Goods and A.J. Wright, is the latest company to announce that customers’ credit card, debit card and check information has been compromised. Apparently, the breach happened several years ago without the company’s knowledge, so it has affected millions of people over the last few years. The hackers broke into the company's computer system in 2003 and it has been going on ever since. The breach could be especially detrimental to people who have used their debit cards at these stores. The company is asking customers to check their statements carefully. So far, no major issues have occurred, but if you’ve shopped at any of these stores you want to check your documents very carefully! This kind of thing can happen anywhere, anytime. The question is why aren’t companies doing more to prevent it?
You may have heard that retailers had a lousy Christmas last year, especially those in the clothing market. Consumers were all about electronics this holiday season, and that includes women and men. Digital cameras, televisions and HDTVs were the popular picks for everyone. Add to that the fact that it’s been a pretty mild winter, which keeps people from buying the warm clothing they normally would. The upside to this news is that retailers will have fantastic deals on clothing in the next few weeks. In fact, “past season” or winter clothing is going to be extra cheap, so you can stock up for next winter. Retailers are basically dying to get rid of this inventory to make room for the spring and summer clothes. The only retailers that had a good Christmas were Costco Wholesale, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Guess. So, you won’t find the deals at those places. But nearly everywhere else you go will be a steal. In addition, home heating bills will be low.
Clark has tried to convince people that extended warranties are trash for many years. He felt like the lone wolf in the wilderness for a long time. But now, Consumer Reports is backing him up. The magazine’s latest edition is all about what a waste of money extended warranties are. Every dollar you pay for an extended warranty, you’re really only getting about 15 or 20 cents on it. Why is that? First of all, the quality of the electronics and appliances is so good these days that the chance of them breaking is miniscule. Secondly, if something does happen it will probably be after the warranty runs out. In addition, although the products are high quality, they will lose value with each year you own them. And you never want to insure a rapidly decreasing product. Also keep in mind that when you buy an item on a major credit card, you usually extend the manufacturer’s warranty by one year. So, extended warranties and service contracts simply aren’t worth it.
Wal-Mart is feeling the effects of all the bad press out there, having just reported its worst sales month in years. As a result, the mega-retailer is going to launch Black Friday early this year. If you’re not familiar with this unofficial sales "holiday," it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving and it usually kicks off the holiday shopping season. But this year, Wal-Mart will start the deals this weekend – Nov. 4 and 5 - and continue them through through the holiday season - or until the goods are gone! The company is going to discount 10,000 items, including a $398 Compaq laptop computer that normally retails for much more. Check out sites like gottadeal.com and bfads.net for items. The sale will put pressure on other retailers to offer up their deals early, so keep an eye out over the next two months!
Retail crime is running rampant these days, according to the Wall Street Journal. Half of it is still “inside” work, involving employees of a store. But the other half is the work of organized crime rings. The rings are using a number of different methods, including changing bar codes on items so they buy them for much less. The scary part is that you can buy bar code changing software for about $25 on the Internet. These programs change the codes on items to reflect a much lower cost. Then, the crime gangs resell the items on eBay and other sites for much more. Stores have gotten wise at ferreting out employee theft, so organized gangs are the real threat nowadays. They usually get about 70 cents on the dollar, making an average of about $50,000 per store. Other criminal rings are making counterfeit gift cards. Criminals go into stores, take digital images of gift cards and then duplicate the cards. Then, they monitor the cards to see when they’ve been activated and use the money on them. So, the real owner of the card goes into the store to use it and there is no money left on it. As a result of this growing crime trend, eBay now has a limit on how many gift cards sellers can post per week.
Wal-Mart has set off a price war in the toy market for this holiday season. It is now the largest supplier of toys, so you can find great deals. More than 100 toys have been cut by sometimes 20 to 30 percent. The company is basically trying to decimate its competition and it’s working. Other stores may try to match Wal-Mart’s prices, but prices have never been this low on most toys. One example is the Hot Wheels Radar Gun, which has dropped from $30 to $20. Interactive dolls for girls have dropped from $99 to $69. So, now is a great time to buy toys for your kids.
You’ve probably looked through the newspaper and seen an item on sale that you’d like to buy. The only drawback is that there is a rebate you have to file to get the sale price. And most people don’t take the time fill out the rebate forms, so they pay full price after all. Clark is diligent about filing his rebates within three days of the purchase, and even he has trouble getting the money back on occasion. The rebate companies will say he forgot a receipt or forgot to add some paperwork. The truth is the whole paper rebate routine is faulty and lots of companies are doing away with rebates all together. Best Buy is one of those companies. Some companies, such as Staples, have online programs that are very easy to use. But not all items qualify for the program. Also, doing away with rebates all together is going to cause prices to go up in some stores. So, keep an eye out.
In the never-ending story of Simon Malls and the company’s disgusting business practices, the Feds recently ruled in favor of Simon Malls. States have been filing suit against the company to fight its ability to operate. New Jersey was the latest. But with winning a case in federal court, Simon Malls is free to keep handing out its junky gift cards. That’s why consumers have to put a stop to it by NOT BUYING THE CARDS! They start racking up fees after a short time and eventually expire, so they are basically not worth the plastic they are printed on. If you want to give people incentive to buy merchandise in malls, just give them cash.
Clark likes to keep you up to date about deals and offers out there to save you money. He wants to you be cautious when using them, but it’s his job to let you know. The latest invention is called Jellyfish.com. It’s a comparison shopping site like the others, but Jellyfish also gives you a direct discount off your purchase. Usually it’s about two percent. But what you need to remember is that no site will always have the best deal. You always want to shop around. It’s just one more tool Clark wants you to know about. In more retail news, how do you like filing rebates? No one does. But some companies are making it easier for you. Costco and Staples are two of the leaders in the rebate industry because they make it so easy to do. Best Buy has also started giving instant rebates instead of making people fill out paperwork after the sale. Well, now Office Max is going to do the same. So, it’s a step in the right direction and Clark hopes more companies follow suit.
Consumer Reports’ most recent issue deals with outlet stores and whether they are a bargain. The magazine surveyed 6,000 people for the issue and found that three-quarters said the goods were high quality and the prices were good. Not amazingly cheap, but a good deal. Only 5 percent were unhappy with the goods they bought. The best deals, according to Consumer Reports, are the irregular clothes at the outlets. Only 4 percent of the time could CR figure out what the irregularity was. And, if there is one, it will probably be seam problems and small stains or tears. You can also find fake suggested retail prices on clothes that were really designed for the outlet and never in a designer store. So, how did the various outlet stores rank overall? The best outlet was L.L. Bean. Also in the top rankings were Lenox, Jockey, Mikasa, Pfaltzgraff, Carters and Osh Kosh B’Gosh, according to Consumer Reports. The worst outlet was Nike, with the worst service, selection, quality and value. Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, Toys Unlimited, Gap and Saks Off Fifth Avenue were also in the bottom rankings.
The Financial Times of London conducted a retail survey recently and found that two companies are miles above the rest in terms of customer satisfaction and profitability. They are H&M and Zara.com. Find out why! Remember to click just once and disable your pop-up blocker.
More than 1 million customers a day go to IKEA furniture stores. It is truly to new hip retailer for furniture. People may not know it but IKEA was actually started in the ‘40s, and the company has been working on its business model ever since. The job of every employee is to make and sell furniture for less. A lot of the furniture is sold “KD” or knocked down and it comes in flat boxes that must be assembled. People are willing to do it though because it’s cheap and stylish. IKEA actually has to limit the number of stores they open each year because the company can’t manufacture the merchandise at the rate it is being purchased. It’s a great success story because the company is doing well in every country in which it exists. That is unheard of. In addition, IKEA treats its employees well and gives real value to its customers. Industries seem to be moving to the extremes - high-end and deeply discounted. It's happening in the car, airline and furniture industry. What a sign of the times.
Have you heard of the Web site, “Gottadeal.com”? It’s one of the many sites that lists the sales retailers are having on Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Traditionally, it’s the biggest shopping day of the year, and getting the deals is a huge coo for the Web sites. Gottadeal.com now has deals listed for about a half a dozen retailers, including WalMart, Costco and others. But, more and more, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is getting bigger for shopping because of gift cards. So, a leak of deals is a huge problem for retailers. The retailers try to guard their information because once it gets out the other retailers can undercut them. The WalMart leak is probably the biggest because the company is going to have great deals. They include a computer with built-in wireless access for $398 and tons of items will cost less than $5. In order to get the deals, you’ll have to be at the stores very early in the morning. The good news is that the information just feeds on itself because each company will try to one-up the next. Just don’t get caught up in the frenzy and buy something you don’t need.
Have you ever been to a Simon Mall? The company has built a brand image around its malls. So, Clark is at a loss as to why the company is treating everyone so poorly this holiday season. Simon’s gift card is what is causing all of the problems. Several states have filed lawsuits against the company because of them, in fact. New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire have all filed suit. The company has been accused of acting illegally because of all of the mice type and fees associated with the card. Even worse, this year is supposed to be huge for gift cards. Clark doesn’t understand why people continue to use these inferior forms of money. If you don’t use them in a certain period of time, you start to lose it. Remember that cash is king and everyone loves to get it.
Clark and his daughter stopped at a convenience store to get gas this weekend, and he was surprised when she walked out with a relatively healthy item. According to recent news reports, the new trend in convenience stores is high-end meals, fancy cheeses and breads and basically gourmet food items. Stores are trying to attract more women into these stores because women are more likely to buy things but they don’t often go into gas station stores because they are scared. As a result, companies are building nicer buildings with extremely well-lit and clean facilities. The idea is to get you to think about it as something other than a gas station. It will include fancy, gourmet packaged foods as well as MREs (meals ready to eat). Owners know that there is no money in the gas people are buying, so they’re trying everything else to entice you into buying more.
When men buy clothes, it doesn’t take long. Men are typically fast shoppers and the sizes clothes come in are pretty standard. But for women, it’s almost impossible to tell if something fits just by size. Much of it is a marketing ploy for women, meaning women will buy something if it’s labeled a size smaller because it makes them feel good. But that item may be a totally different size in another store. And apparently the cause of it all is women themselves. Half of women hate trying on clothes because they never know what it going to fit and it can be a pretty defeating experience. The L.A. Times looked into this topic and found a company that carries 33 different size 8 clothing items. Clark thinks women should have standardized sizing as well. With mass customization, tt would cut down on costs and make clothing much easier to try on.
There is a lot of turmoil in the furniture industry and it means great news for consumers! For the last few years, we’ve been buying furniture at a very rapid rate. But that has come to a halt. That happened, in part, because people have stopped doing “cash out” refis and using the money to buy furniture. So, furniture retailers are seeing huge drops in furniture sales. Pier 1, for example, has seen an 18 percent drop in furniture purchases just in the month of March. Over the past 12 months, sales have dropped steadily. The hazard for you is that when furniture retailers get into trouble and you have paid by cash or check, your money goes bust too. If you’re required to pay a deposit for furniture, pay only with a credit card. Then, if there is a delay of more than 8 weeks in the delivery, file a dispute on that deposit immediately. If the furniture eventually comes, great. You can always cancel the dispute. But if it never shows, you’re covered and you get your money back. On the other hand, the opportunity here is that when furniture sales slow down, stores will offer you a better deal. Stores need to get rid of their furniture and you provide a perfect solution for them so they’ll be willing to bargain.
Have you heard about the new alarm clock that you have to chase to turn off? That’s right. An MIT graduate has invented an alarm clock starts rolling across the room as soon as it goes off. So, people must get out of bed to turn it off. The device known as “Clocky” will be on the market within the year. Keep your eye and ears out!
Clark quit smoking quite a few years ago, but he admits he used to smoke like a chimney. Therefore, he has always been interested in the topic of smoking in the workplace and how it is accepted. Well, a story in the Detroit News gave him his answer. According to the paper, a Michigan company fired four employees because they tested positive for tobacco after the company instituted a no-smoking policy. It’s legal in Michigan to fire employees on those grounds. But Clark thinks that is just wrong. About 80 percent of you agreed with him in a recent poll, which asked whether it was fair to fire existing employees because they smoke. He thinks it’s fine not to hire someone because he or she is a smoker. It adds huge health care costs. But doing what’s fair is also important.
Retail prices are up quite a bit over the past year. Gas, for example, is out of control. Medical costs, hotel rates and dairy are all up quite a bit. Small businesses are also expecting to raise prices this year. It means that the value of our paycheck shrinks. You may notice that a dollar just doesn’t pay for what it used to. As a result, we change what we buy and how we buy it. If we notice something has gone way up in price, we may switch to the store brand. The quality of store brands is going to get better too. Just because something is the latest greatest brand of something doesn’t mean it is not a great quality product. Use your money wisely as prices go up. And think about reducing prices cumulatively.
The soft drink industry appears to be fizzling out in certain areas. Regular Coke and Pepsi are slowly losing market share, while diet drinks are going like gangbusters. Water is also growing by leaps and bounds. That’s why Pepsi is making such a foray into the bottled water market. Soft drink sales represent about one-third of all sales in the country, according to the New York Times. That means that diet drinks are taking over the country. Pepsi is treating its diet drink as its flagship drink, and is reformulating Pepsi One to appeal to the men who don’t like to admit their drinking a diet drink. The money saving tip here is that when new flavors come out, existing drinks go on sale and become the bargain for the moment. So, buy the soft drinks then!
Clark is disgusted by retailers that don’t honor their rebate offers. Often times, people buy a product based on a good rebate deal, fill out the paperwork and they never receive their money. The retailer is responsible for those rebates and should pay people the money they deserve. Well, finally the FTC has weighed in on this matter and retailers are now responsible for fulfilling their rebate requests. From now on, if you don’t get a rebate from a retailer, you can take it up with the FTC. Just remember that you’ve sent in everything you are supposed to and you follow the rebate instructions to a tee. There are two pioneers in the rebate industry that others should try to emulate. Costco and Staples have very easy, very responsive rebate programs. Getting a rebate should not require hours of work. So how many people actually redeem rebates? One in four of us do. When the amount crosses the $50 mark, two-thirds of people file.
Clark has been stunned by the recent media blitz Wal-Mart is causing. The company is spending untold amounts of money to change its image with the American people. He knows that the company has gotten some very negative news and may need to change some of its policies. But it’s the first time such a discount company has come under so much scrutiny. The reason many people dislike the company is because the company sets up shop on huge tracts of land and then abandons the store, leaving huge “gray fields” that look awful. Clark would like Wal-Mart to step up to the plate and offer to do something when it leaves an area. To its credit, the company must hire 50,000 people a month, usually due to turnover. It is now the larges business in the world. But Wal-Mart might do better long term and stay in places longer if it offered better health care benefits and connected better with its employees. Look inside the company and figure out why people dislike you so much. Then do something about it.
Clark has trashed Simon Malls recently because of its gift card program. The company is the only brand name mall in the country and it has started a gift card business. Unfortunately, Simon charges money to buy the Visa-branded gift card and deducts money from the card if people don’t use them within 180 days. In several states, this is illegal. But Simon Malls continues to sell the cards. The company even went to the federal government to get the states off its back. Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire all have strict gift card rules and they have gone to court to stop Simon. Clark doesn’t understand why the company continues to cheat people and break the law (in some states.) All its gotten them is negative publicity.
Today, there is a high-end market for travel suitcases, with some suitcases costing more then a trip to Europe. Luggage companies have started to make suitcases in a variety of colors and designs. Clark wants to know why luggage companies have not joined with colleges and universities to market school designs on luggage. He thinks prideful alumni would buy luggage with their school’s logos. Clark also predicts that by next Christmas the more moderate priced luggage makers will have a big push to sell luggage of any color variety or style. The era of any color of luggage, as long as it is black, is over!!
What did you have for lunch today? Apparently, people are eating more sandwiches than ever. Sandwich chains, such as Panera Bread Company, are all the go these days because they offer such a good variety. And many of those choices are healthy. People are changing their eating habits, which is great news. But are you conning yourself into thinking you’re being healthy? For instance, if you get a healthy turkey sandwich but you slather it in mayonnaise, that sandwich is no longer healthy. So, skip the mayo if you can and try mustard or another low fat sauce. It’s the same with salads. A salad is no longer healthy if you cover it in high-fat salad dressing, cheese and other ingredients that jack up the calories, fat and cholesterol. So, really, watch what you eat.
Have you seen the food kiosks at restaurants that allow you to order food without waiting in line? They’re in Europe only right now, but they’re coming to the States, according to the Chicago Tribune. Think about how much that will increase the level and speed of service in those restaurants. A human will no longer take your order and people are actually happy about it. Speaking of long lines, have you noticed that lines at video stores are longer than ever? Some of them are longer than the lines at airports. Why don’t video stores start using kiosks so people don’t have to wait in line for so long. We serve ourselves better than anyone else ever could, so why not let us do that when we rent movies too?
The amount of time you have to return items at retailers is being reduced – again. Some retailers have shortened the length of time to seven days. It’s happening because of the loss of revenue from shoplifting and theft, most of which is perpetrated by employees. Retailers are losing $16 billion per year from retail fraud, according to the Detroit News. Store detectives used to catch thieves from the outside. Today, they are there to catch runners who work at the store and steal the items. As a result, the 99 percent of us who are honest and who pay for our items are treated like criminals. So, be familiar with a store’s return policy before you buy there. This is especially true if you’re giving someone a gift and the store only allows seven days to return an item.
A 20-year-old man from Nebraska named Andy Fisher has listed his forehead on eBay as a place for companies to advertise. He asked $37,000 for his forehead and it worked. The company that decided to take Andy up on his offer is now getting so much publicity that it was worth much more than that.
Clark has been an outspoken supporter of dollar stores. Consumers can save tons of money at these stores and people of higher incomes are even starting to shop there because the merchandise is just as good as brand name products. Well, he has egg on his face today. Good Housekeeping recently tested four knock-offs from The Dollar Store and other dollar stores against brand name products. The products included glass cleaner, body lotion, dishwashing liquid and detergent. The brand name products were Windex, Lubriderm, Dawn and Tide. With the glass cleaner, more of the dollar store product was needed to clean the windows. The body lotion had a runny texture and didn’t moisturize as long. When it came to the dishwashing liquid, Dawn washed 19 dishes while the dollar brand washed only six. As for the detergent, the dollar brand did not wash out a mustard stain that Tide did. Yes, it’s only four items, but it shows that things in a dollar store will not always be of equivalent quality.
A power surge hit Clark’s house last week and he lost about $20,000 worth of electronics and appliances. The fried gadgets include two computers, two stereos, an answering machine, a TV, fax machine, and all of his exercise equipment. He knows it’s just one of those things that sometimes happens, but it’s still frustrating. He had to do a lot of shopping this weekend to replace everything that blew, and he was not looking forward to that. But he was pleasantly surprised by how much better and how much cheaper products are these days. A fax machine, for instance, was $49. A high-speed copier was just $299. It replaced one that cost $600 and was much slower. He bought one computer for $279, and an HDTV for $398. And everything was much easier to put together. For such a major blow, it was not a very huge economic hit.
Clark has trashed Simon Malls recently because of its gift card program. The company is the only brand name mall in the country and it has started a gift card business. Unfortunately, Simon charges money to buy the Visa-branded gift card and deducts money from the card if people don’t use them within 180 days. In several states, this is illegal. But Simon Malls continues to sell the cards. The company even went to the federal government to get the states off its back. Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire all have strict gift card rules and they have gone to court to stop Simon. Clark doesn’t understand why the company continues to cheat people and break the law (in some states.) All its gotten them is negative publicity.
Clark has been stunned by the recent media blitz Wal-Mart is causing. The company is spending untold amounts of money to change its image with the American people. He knows that the company has gotten some very negative news and may need to change some of its policies. But it’s the first time such a discount company has come under so much scrutiny. The reason many people dislike the company is because the company sets up shop on huge tracts of land and then abandons the store, leaving huge “gray fields” that look awful. Clark would like Wal-Mart to step up to the plate and offer to do something when it leaves an area. To its credit, the company must hire 50,000 people a month, usually due to turnover. It is now the larges business in the world. But Wal-Mart might do better long term and stay in places longer if it offered better health care benefits and connected better with its employees. Look inside the company and figure out why people dislike you so much. Then do something about it.
The furniture company IKEA has slowly been gaining support in the U.S., with stores in the Northeast, the Mid Atlantic states and in parts of California. And where people know IKEA, there is a huge following. So much so that hotel chains have started sprouting up near IKEA stores. People stay over night near the store, load up on goods and drive home. IKEA is popular because it’s not expensive, yet it looks modern and somewhat high end. Prices are so low because most of the items are sold “KD” or “knock down,” so the merchandise re much less expensive to ship. That savings is passed on to you. Also, assembly of items is not very difficult at all. In the beginning, IKEA had trouble selling items in America. For instance, they tried to sell wardrobes that are big in Europe, but not so much here. Well, IKEA is finally getting it down. They plan to open stores all around America soon, so you’ll have access no matter where you live.
About 10 years ago, before the Internet got really big, Clark got very excited about a new trend in the online retail world. It’s called mass customization, and it’s existed for many, many years. But now it’s getting even bigger. Mass customization means you have something built or designed expressly for you by the manufacturer. For years, Rolls Royce has made cars specifically for its owners, and many corporate types have their suits made just for them. But it’s traditionally been available only to the wealthy. Now, that’s changing. Toyota now builds custom-made cars. Land’s End has been extremely successful with its customized clothing line. About 40 percent of Land’s End customers buy the custom made clothing, even though it costs about 20 percent more than regular “off-the-shelf” clothes. And the best news about mass customization is that - because of computer-aided design (CAD ) – you can get the items right away. Some retailers have not been successful. Levi’s, for example, tried it with jeans. People just didn’t want to pay the extra money. When it comes to computers, though, this business model works. No company has perfected mass customization more than Dell. The company has been so successful that Dell is getting out of the computer business. Dell doesn’t make the computer until you ask for it, so you can get any monitor, hard drive, burner, etc. that you want. M&Ms is even getting in on this game. You can now buy whatever color and design you want on your M&Ms. Let’s hope they don’t melt on the way!
A diamond is a very expensive purchase, and for years the diamond industry has been shrouded in secrecy, mystery and a bit of romance. But today, it seems even more confusing than ever. Each diamond company claims to have some special inside connection, which allows its workers to get diamond straight from the diamond mines. As a result, it’s been a market that has resisted any kind of discount. But that is changing because of the Internet. Forbes Magazine recently did a profile on Blue Nile, an Internet diamond company that is changing the face of the industry. A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal reviewed the company and gave it a poor review. But Blue Nile must be doing something right. It now sells as many diamonds as Tiffany, with $154 million in sales. The company’s objective is to demystify the industry by telling you exactly what they’re selling you and how much it will cost. They take a much lower mark-up than traditional sellers, and it ends up costing about one-third less than traditional sellers. So, a one-carat diamond will cost about $7,000 at a traditional retailer and $4,700 at Blue Nile. Traditional diamond companies are not at all happy with Blue Nile or with the warehouse clubs that offer great discounts on diamonds. But the marketplace is obviously happy with Blue Nile, as sales continue to grow. Consider it if you are into price more than romance.
Several weeks ago, Clark was enraged when he heard about the massive fees the federal government was planning to charge on imports coming from China. Furniture from China is dominating the market because the quality and the price is so good. It’s got U.S. furniture makers all worked up because the competition is doing so much better than them. Well, now that the election is over, the news has changed. The tariffs have been reduced to a maximum of 16 percent and some items will have duties of only 8 percent. So, the increase in the mark-up will not be as high, and prices will remain very reasonable in general on furniture. On the other hand, China is soaking up so much of the world’s steel and raw material that appliance prices are headed up. Whirlpool is raising prices as much as 10 percent and Maytag has just announced it will increase prices as well. Refrigerators, washers, dryers, dishwashers and stoves are among the items headed up.
A few months ago, Clark talked about some information that had leaked out of Best Buy, the electronics store. It involved the dislike the company shows toward people who want to buy sale items, and the discriminatory behavior the company advocates. According to the Wall Street Journal, Best Buy calls people who are looking for deals “Devils” because the company loses money on them. The company was happy to talk about this in detail, sharing that 20 percent of their customers are more of a hazard than a profit. Company officials also shared that they categorize shoppers. The most profitable customers are known as “angels;” the high-income men who like action movies are “Barrys;” and “Jills” are suburban mothers who are not concerned with prices. If you are “Buzz,” you like the latest gadgets and must have them. Best Buy wants its employees to treat “Devils” horribly because the company does not want them to ever come back. The company is even building boutique-type stores that appeal to the customers in the area with the highest profit potential. The company knows who customers are because of data mining. Clark finds this amazing because the company is training employees to discriminate against certain people. Banks started this trend of “human profitability indexes” that determine whether customers get help or not. It’s a disgrace.
If you’re into being hip and “designer ready,” Clark has some great news for you. Clark is not very into fashion. He likes to wear a golf shirt and shorts most every day. But his wife, Lane, is trying to help him improve his wardrobe little by little. In fact, for Christmas, her gift was to dress him on certain occasions. On one of those occasions, Clark got tons of compliments on how he looked. So, it’s clear that making some effort does pay off. That doesn’t mean you have to pay a lot, though, to look like a fashion plate. Some stores are opening that sell nothing but used, high-end clothes including, Charles David, Gucci, Manolo Blahnik, Diesel, Habitual, Chloe, Marc Jacobs And D&G. One chain that has these clothes is “CrossRoads Now.” These stores only accept specific designer items, and you generally pay 20 to 25 percent of the full price. They must be in good shape, as well. So, you won’t find dingy, frayed clothes.
Have you noticed that there is a lot more fashion that there used to be in discount stores these dates? In the past, clothing in these stores was considered dowdy and cheap looking. But today, if you want to be what’s called “fashion forward,” you go to the less expensive clothing retailers. And Clark doesn’t just mean people who treasure hunt at red tag sales and thrift stores. Three stores have had more to do with this than anyone other store: H&M, Zara and Target. H&M is a Swedish company, Zara is from Spain and Target is from Minneapolis. These three companies have very sophisticated fashion design departments. They watch fashion shows in Paris, take the designs that are the least outrageous and recreate them using computer design. Sometimes the clothing is not the best quality, but it is ultra cheap. H&M scouts see something on the runway in Europe and the company has it on stores in the Untied States within 10 weeks. Zara, which is in California, New York, Texas, Florida and New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. . They have clothes in the stores as quickly as 21 days. These stores have put a lot of pressure on off-price retailers, which carry clothes from top designers but the hot clothes typically arrive at these stores a season later. Target also has a very fashion-oriented design that many people follow, and they are all over the United States. You don’t have to follow the heard anymore when it comes to fashion. Make your own style and save money!
Furniture retailing is a very hard market in which to succeed. The housing market has been really strong and people want to fill their big homes with all kinds of furniture. But in spite of that, furniture retailers still are struggling. Huffman Koos, a popular furniture retailer in the Northeast, is liquidating because the company couldn’t find a buyer to take over its ailing business. Sometimes furniture stores just shut down one day, and people who have paid for furniture ahead of time are left holding the bag. When you order custom furniture and there is a deposit you must put down, make sure you pay with a credit card. Do not use a debit card, cash or a check. Once you pay, you should start the clock. If the retailer said the furniture should arrive in four to six weeks, and that time passes with no furniture, you should start to wonder. The furniture may be just a little late. But the company could be in financial trouble, meaning your furniture was never ordered. At seven weeks, call and ask what’s going on. If they stall you some more, get ready to file a dispute with your credit card. At eight weeks, you are in danger. When it reaches 55 days, file the dispute. You only have 60 days to file a dispute, so make sure you get it in a few days early. If it turns out that you eventually get your furniture, you can always remove that dispute claim and release the money to the company. But make sure you are protected regardless.
Major appliances for the home have gotten much cheaper these days. That includes washers, dryers, refrigerators and stoves. Unfortunately, many people buy expensive, unreliable fancy appliances that break all the time just because they look good. What people don’t understand is that these fancy appliances are not tested enough. Therefore, the bugs have not been worked out and they end up breaking all the time. The reliability of an item increases as the production runs increase. Consumer Reports confirms this in its appliance issue, in which ultra expensive items are always rated worst in reliability. Most people are still looking for good deals on reliable appliances, however. The business has become super competitive with Lowes and Home Depot duking it out for market share. In the meantime, Sears is getting clobbered. Part of the reason is because Sears is located in malls, and most people don’t shop in malls anymore. As a result, Sears is going to open stand-alone appliance and electronics outlets that will carry very reasonable merchandise. According to reports, the most price-sensitive shoppers are upper- to middle-income buyers. These are people who make a substantial income but are looking for the best value on a dollar. Non-traditional players such as Wal-Mart and Costco are entering the business, so traditional appliance stores must compete for your business. Wal-Mart alone accounts for one in every $11 spent in the United States, so they mean business. And remember that if you were psyched to get one of those ridiculously expensive appliances, don’t! You’re wasting your money!
Furniture is the best it’s been in years in terms of both both quality and price. The quality of wood furniture, in particular, is so much better than it used to be. The problem is that our homes are much larger, with lots more rooms. Homes are about twice the size they were 12 years ago, so there is a lot more to furnish. In addition, many people are house poor, so they don’t have the money to buy the furniture they need. All of the advertisements we see these days are for “No, No, No” plans. These are financing plans for furniture that allow you to payment no down payment and no interest. Furniture stores sell interest-free financing like it’s going out of style. It gives people the feeling that they’re buying the furniture and not paying for it. But are you really buying it for free? No. You eventually have to pay, and most people can’t when the time is up. Let’s say you buy $3,000 of furniture one day and you get “no payment” until June 2005. You didn’t pay a thing. But that date arrives sooner than you think. Then, there is what’s called “retroactive” interest. That means the interest is applied starting the day you made the purchase and it will usually be between 20 and 30 percent. If you’re getting close to that deadline, Clark wants you to do desperate things. Even if it means taking out a cash advance, which he never recommends, do whatever you can to avoid retroactive interest. But the best thing you can do is to only buy what you can afford to pay for. It’s not as much fun as getting a whole house at once. But you’ll have nothing hanging over your head if you do that. And you can be very successful buying used furniture, so don’t turn your nose up to that either!
Clark is upset about a decision coming form the federal government in the next 24 hours. According to the Wall Street Journal, the American furniture industry has gotten the Feds to put punitive tariffs on imported furniture we buy. There is no business logic behind the decision. It’s just a political payoff that will punish American citizens for buying furniture mostly in China and other pars of Asia. American consumers have benefited from the manufacturing of this furniture because it’s made with much better workmanship and it’s much cheaper. Yes, it does mean a loss of jobs and factory closings over time in the U.S. But we have always said we want an open market in America. So, if we’re willing to export, we should be willing to import, too. We’re not doing ourselves a favor by taking away jobs from people in China, either. We’ll see how it all plays out. Clark thinks there will probably be lawsuits and outrage. But for the summer, buy what you can before the tariffs begin.
Retailers are becoming more powerful than manufacturers these days thanks to private label brands. Retailers are establishing quasi brand names for themselves and these “private label brands” are raising profits exponentially for stores. JC Penney was about to go under when the company hired a merchandising manager who reoriented what was sold inside the Penney’s stores. Now, 40 percent of goods sold inside the store are Penney’s own private label clothes. At Sears, it’s up to 55 percent. Retailers that used to pitch brand name goods are now promoting their own brands as the real moneymakers. According to the Chicago Tribune, even Kohl’s is increasing its private label goods. The quality of the merchandise is the same if not better than brand name goods. As a result, you’re going to see far more retail centers that are just selling designer labels. This used to be a purely outlet mall market with overruns and discontinued items. But now, designer labels are having so much trouble competing with private labels, they are opening stores to sell items themselves. The good news is that it means cheaper, high-quality goods for you and me!
There is a move toward making men in corporate America dress up more often. Usually when someone dresses up at the office, others assume that person either had a meeting or had a job interview. There is a trend to dress better in the workplace, especially for men, according to the Detroit News. Men’s Warehouse has seen the sale of clothes jump 13 percent in the past year. Brooks Brothers has also seen a boost in profits. And Joseph A. Bank is moving its line from casual to dressy once again. Clark hates the idea of dressing up. He likes to dress in golf shirts and shorts whenever possible. But some people out there don’t mind. Just remember that when you’re going for a job interview, you want to dress according to the atmosphere of the office. If the atmosphere is casual, don’t wear your best duds.
Clark and his wife made a deal with their 5-year-old daughter, Stephanie, recently. They told her that if she improved her behavior, she would receive the bunk bed she’s been wanting for the past six months. So, Clark went out on the Internet looking for the white bed like she wanted. He found one on eBay.com and bought it for $199. Not bad, huh? Well, it turned out he would have to assemble it himself in exchange for the cheap price. And what was supposed to take an hour ended up taking more than three. Is it really worth it to “do it yourself?”
Clark has written in his books about buying mattresses the “Clark Smart” way. Buying a nice mattress for a good price and how to test it out are both important. So, Clark read with great interest a story in the New York Times about people who spend more than $10,000 for their mattress and box spring. People are buying mattresses made of lambswool, cashmere and silk. And, it’s considered normal to spend between $2,000 and $6,000 for the pair. The marketplace has moved toward this high-end level year after year, at a 20 percent increase every year. The ironic part is that people are sleeping much less than they were a generation ago. Most people get less than seven hours of sleep these days. So, as we deal with anxieties and stresses, we think we’ll get a better night’s sleep if we buy expensive mattresses. But studies have shown that it makes no difference if you spend $10,000 or $1,000. The British Medical Journal found that people do just fine sleeping on a moderately-priced mattress with good support and firmness.
Have you looked at furniture recently? We have the best quality wood furniture available for the best prices. The reason is because of imports from Asia, mainly Communist China, are made with hardwork and quality materials. And we're buying them up like hotcakes. If you go into a furniture store today, that is pretty much all there is. And you’ll see the label if you look closely enough. But the import of these Asian goods has American furniture stores hoppin’ mad. And, an obscure federal agency called the International Trade Commission, or the ITC, is stepping in to placate them. The ITC wants to introduce tariffs of up to 500 percent on furniture coming into the U.S. The minimum increase would be about 150 percent. The ITC claims that 32,000 American workers are affected by the Asian furniture buying craze. And, it’s true that it can have an affect on jobs. But overall we all benefit from the import of this furniture. It’s like the auto industry. As a result of the better quality Japanese and European cars, American automakers have stepped up the quality on our cars. And that is the same thing that would happen with American furniture if we continued the free trade arrangements. It’s just better for the marketplace.
